Cumin-spiced Hummus and Gluten-free Lentil Flatbread

I've been told that in certain parts of Asia, every family has their own kimchi recipe. You can travel to a dozen different towns, and in each one, you’ll experience a dozen different varieties of the fermented dish. 

Hummus is like that in the United States… particularly among vegan bloggers. And today I’m going to share with you one of my oil-free hummus’.

Hummus is great as either a snack, appetizer, or as part of dinner. It can be used as a simple dip or used as a dressing. Literally, there is no limit to what you can do with this versatile spread. Typically made from cooked chickpeas, it has a nice blend of the macro-nutrients, and also offers several micro-nutrients as only plant-based foods can provide!

This recipe is for a simple and fast hummus and can be made with either canned or soaked and cooked chickpeas. Feel free to stray from the original recipe and start to create your very own variety!

Makes 2-3 servings

1 or 2 cans of chickpeas or 1 cup cooked chickpeas*

1 teaspoon of tahini

Juice of 1 lemon or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 bayleaf

1 clove of garlic

Cumin seeds (or powder), salt, and black pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor (a hand blender also works well) and blend until smooth and creamy. Slowly add water or veggie broth for desired texture. Taste the hummus and adjust spices and seasoning as needed or desired.

*Pro tip - save the water from the can to use for the hummus

Lentil Flatbread

Now hummus is amazingly healthy, especially when it’s served with veggies like carrots, bell peppers, or cabbage. However, if you are looking for something a little hardier, give this great BYOL-original Lentil and brown rice flatbread a try! Not only is the bread made from whole food ingredients rather than a refined flour, it only requires four essential ingredients, and can be made relatively quickly when in a bind! That being said, I suggest soaking the lentils and rice over night to help with digestibility.

While I’m suggesting pairing it with hummus here, the bread makes great toast with apple butter for breakfast, is perfect with all types of soups, Indian daals and curries, a nice snack with your afternoon mate, and can easily be brought to work or a picnic (It is literally the easiest way to BYOL!) You can also change the thickness by altering how long you let the bread rise and by how thick you make the batter.

Makes One Flatbread loaf

½ cup green or brown lentils (soaked)

½ cup brown rice (soaked)

½ teaspoon or half of an 8 gram packet of Active Dry Yeast

½ teaspoon baking powder*

¼ - ½ cup of veggie broth or water

Add optional spices and herbs such as a bayleaf, basil, or rosemary.

After soaking and rinsing the lentils and rice, put them either in a blender or food processor (again, a hand blender can work well for this). As you blend, slowly add a little bit of water or broth until you start to reach a dough-like consistency. It should be a little runny. Then add the baking powder and active yeast. Now let the mixture sit for 45 minutes to one hour. Pour the batter onto a parchment paper lined baking pan or pizza stone (I often use my cast iron pan) and place into the oven for 20 -25 minutes on 350. Once you’ve achieved the desired crispiness of the bread, remove from the oven and let cool. 

I hope two recipes help power your weekend! 

* If you are highly sensitive to gluten, or have celiac disease, make sure you get a certified gluten-free baking powder. 

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.