Hummus with Spicy Cilantro Sauce

Written By John Nettles

I love homemade hummus so much that once I started eating it at restaurants store bought was ruined for me. Luckily, I found out how ridiculously easy it is to whip up at home and it became a staple midday snack in my house. There are technically two recipes here, the hummus and the cilantro sauce. The hummus recipe is pretty normal with the exception of two ingredients, MSG and aquafaba.

You might be wondering, MSG, why would that be in hummus? Well let me tell you, it’s in there because it’s delicious. And for those of you who were taught MSG is bad for you, you’re not alone. Growing up I was told that MSG was terrible but as I have gotten older I have learned that a lot of MSG hate is rooted in the crossroads of racism and xenophobia. I am linking an article to read more about the history of MSG in the United States. But a little MSG goes a long way to make the dishes it is in extra savory.

Now you maybe have never heard of the ingredient aquafaba, and to be honest, unless you are vegan I don’t know why you would have. Aquafaba is just the water that is in the can of the chickpeas. Lots of vegans use it as an egg replacer in baking by providing moisture and binding properties. But in this recipe it’s used instead of water to make the hummus smoother and to keep the flavor concentrated.

As for the spicy cilantro sauce, it’s really delicious. I personally like to keep the hummus and cilantro sauce separate but if you want to mix it all together be my guest. If you want to make the sauce spicier, keep the jalapeño seeds in, if you don’t like spicy at all, feel free to leave the jalapeño out completely.

Ingredient List:

Hummus - 

    • 2 cans of chickpeas 

      • Save a 1/2 cup of chickpea water (aquafaba) for later

    • 1/2 cup of tahini

    • Juice from 2 lemons

    • 2 garlic cloves 

    • 4 tbsp olive oil 

    • 1 tsp ground cumin

    • 1/4 tsp of MSG (optional)

    • Salt to taste

Spicy cilantro sauce -

    • 2 garlic cloves 

    • 3 tbsp olive oil

    • 1/4 tsp ground coriander 

    • Juice from 1 lemon 

    • 1/2 jalapeño 

    • Salt to taste

Instructions:

  1. Start by making the cilantro sauce as it is easier to clean from your food processor than hummus is. All you will do is take your ingredients and blend them together until it’s nice and combined.

  2. Rinse out your food processor with water (don’t use soap to clean it yet).

  3. Make your hummus by adding your ingredients (minus the aquafaba) to a food processor and is combined and blended.

  4. Add aquafaba one tablespoon at a time until the hummus gets to your preferred consistency.

  5. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.

As you can see above, I chose to eat my hummus and spicy cilantro sauce as a dip. With crackers, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled green beans, olives, and feta. But it’s just as good on an open face sandwich with all the fixings on it.

Hope you like this recipe as much as I do :)

John Nettles
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Sage & Lavender Syrup