My hubby has toddler tendencies when it comes to eating healthy food. If it’s something he’s not sure of or is not one of his favorites (he avoids the healthy stuff…) then he wants it covered in gravy or cheese sauce. While this technique will have your brain and tummy hollering YES YES YES..your waistline and arteries will be screaming NO NO NO! Do you have anyone like this in your family? It would sometimes cause friction when I tried to implement healthy options. I’m sure you can picture the toddler meltdown complete with kicking, crying and screaming…but enough about me…
Then it was hummus to the rescue!
Creating a sauce or gravy with hummus could not be any easier. You can use the prepared stuff from the grocery store or make your own. I’m lazy and the premade stuff is made with ingredients I can pronounce so I just use that and spend the extra few minutes quilting instead of hummus-ing. All you need to do is choose a hummus flavor that you like, add a little liquid to it and heat it up. That’s it, all done!
Pictured above is a dish that I recently made. Grilled chicken served on a bed of rice with a red pepper hummus. the sauce mixes with the rice too. Yum. I heated up a 16oz. container of red pepper hummus with about 1/2 cup of water. It comes out a thick gravy consistency. A side salad and a sprinkle of Parmesan and you’re good to go.
Another recent concoction is sort of a mock Alfredo. I used a 16oz. container of garlic hummus with about 3/4-1 cup of water. I wanted it a little thinner so it would coat the pasta well. I cooked up some regular and spinach linguine, sauteed some veggies from the garden and tossed everything together. Not only did I use the abundance of our vegetable garden (there is summer squash, zucchini, carrots, beets, green beans, tomatoes and mushrooms in there) but the sauce also works to sidestep issues for our lactose free family members. Regular Alfredo tastes wonderful but is not good for lactose free folks! Aside from salting the pasta water, I didn’t add any extra spices or herbs.
Just a couple of handy notes when using hummus as a sauce or gravy…It will thicken as it cools so you want to make it slightly looser so it’s perfect by the time it reaches the table. Any leftover hummus sauce can still be used as a spread for crackers or sandwiches too.
So, let the experimentation begin! Leave a comment and tell me what flavor/food profile you discovered with hummus!
I am impressed (and a little bit envious) that your hubby will eat hummus sauce…and peppers…and beets. It sounds delicious but it’ would have to be a solo meal here.
And beats, how cool that you grew your own.
I’ve really enjoyed reading all of your recipe posts.
In all honesty…if I told him what he was eating beforehand he probably wouldn’t eat it! Sauces hide all the veggies inside. If he really likes something I may tell him what it really was…or maybe not. Forgetfullness has a way of erasing any good meals eaten that were healthy versions. I’m lucky that he pretty much eats what’s on the plate without knowing what it really is…