Protein spread for all !

(par/by Takaya)

Here : I am translating parts of the post of Caroline on Pastes. I am focusing on the Hummus with the exact quantities I use for my Hummus version !

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Making a spread is full of possibilities. There are a lot in retail (sweet, salty etc...) however you might get lost if you look into the list of ingredients. Making them at home is easy + quick + creative + healthy !

If you always keep a spread in your fridge, you can do lots of things such as : complete a meal, prepare a quick snack, have something to add to raw vegetables, use in a sandwich ...

For us at this moment, spreads are mainly for the morning as we see the benefit of a protein breakfast in-lieu of its carbohydrate equivalent. 

Why would you prefer proteins in the morning ? Mainly a hormone story 

1 - the hormone which increases appetite - ghrelin - kicks-in later after a protein breakfast rather than a carb breakfast. Therefore you will be hungry later and you'll we able to wait for lunch with no issues.

2 - a meal rich in carbohydrates will increase - serotonin / the hormone of sleep - which will make you dizzy by the end of the morning. Proteins will increase dopamine, which will stimulate a state of alert.

With this protein breakfast, no more drowsiness around 11am, which is good for kids in school and also on the job ! We use it also for the bento / lunchbox with whole bread.

Caroline did insert a note saying that for her precision in recipes was not so important because it gives space to creativity, imagination and why not use whatever additional ingredients you might have.

However, I disagree. So here's my version of Caroline's Hummus (well she just mentioned the ingredients - no quantities, no nothing...)

Hummus

Mix :

• 500g of chick peas canned or boiled (I found organic chick peas with no salt added and BPA free can lining - Caroline uses broken chick peas soaked overnight. After rinsing she covers with salted water and brings it to the boiling point. She finished the cooking in her thermal cooker)
• 40g of tahini
• 8g of garlic (which makes it close to 2 cloves)
• 45g of shallot 
• 72g of lemon juice
• 67g of olive oil
• 1g of ground cumin seed
• 4g of salt
• 4g of pepper

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and some powder paprika.

You can keep it in the fridge for about 1 week !

The morning Protein ! think about it !

Caroline / Takaya

This is what it looks like before you mix


Once you've mixed ...