Everyday at 8:30 I eat hummus for breakfast. It’s not because I am a great creature of habit, or it’s part of my health regime. It is because at 8:30 everyday we review and taste the hummus made the day before in our factory in Virginia, where I work. We aren’t the only 5-6 people in the world that eat hummus for breakfast. There are millions more that do across the Arabic world.
Hummus is not only a dip or a salad eaten throughout the Middle East and around the world. It is also a healthy and popular breakfast food. Okay, it doesn’t snap crackle or pop, but it does provide plenty of protein and fiber to get your day off to a good start. When I was visiting Israel we went to a small Arabic town along the Mediterranean Sea. There, we went to a restaurant for breakfast. This restaurant served one item, prepared two ways. That item, you guessed it, was hummus. It was served warm with chiles, pickles, cabbage, onions and cilantro, classic style. It was also served with warm extra whole chickpeas and tahini in a dish called Mashausha. It was 8:00 am and the restaurant was packed. There was a line at the take out window 5 people deep. The restaurant opened at 6:00 am and served hummus until it was gone, sometime before noon.
What can I say? The hummus was wonderful and worth the trip!! It changed my mind about hummus for breakfast forever. I don’t serve hummus with cabbage for breakfast at home….just a hunch, but I don’t think it would play too well. During our morning chaos I don’t make anything too fancy. But, I do make breakfast quesadillas using hummus for my tween and teenage sons.
I simply grab a whole grain tortilla, throw it in our well used cast iron pan, top it with cheese, heat it over medium heat (with a touch of oil if necessary) and as the cheese begins to melt, top it with a tablespoon or two of hummus. Fold it in half, remove it from the pan and let it cool a bit and eat!! I usually serve it with some fresh fruit on the side. My sons enjoy this dish, it isn’t hummus by the Mediterranean but , it carries them through the morning until they eat lunch!
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| Hummus at a restaurant in Tel Aviv. |
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