Monday, November 1, 2010

Greetings and Salutations!

Welcome to week one of VeganMoFo! As promised, this week is Chickpea Week on this here blog, where we will explore a legume so versatile it's popularly known by at least three different names. They're such great multitaskers, I think calling garbanzo beans tiny little delicious miracles is only a very slight exaggeration. Let's start with what I think is the ceci bean's most popular use (if not, it's definitely in the top three): hummus! When I'm not just eating it on everything I can fit in my mouth, my favorite hummus use is in a wrap.

A hummus salad wrap is probably the easiest thing in the world to make, if you don't mind a bit of chopping. First, you make your hummus, which is basically just chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cumin and a bit of tahini thrown in the food processor. If you want real measurements, I love the Veganomicon recipe. You can always buy your hummus, but really, if you have a food processor or blender, it's a big waste of money. Making your own is far cheaper, especially if you use dried beans. Also, it always tastes better.

Anyway, start your wrap with a generous layer of delicious hummus. It'll make everything stick. And taste great.
Then lay on your leaves. I used baby spinach, but nearly anything will work.
Next, add your vegetables. I like to leave a bit of hummus hanging out the side so it surrounds the vegetables when I roll it up. Also, make sure to leave space on all four sides for folding and rolling.
I used red pepper, grape tomatoes, celery, black olives, mung bean sprouts, cucumber, broccoli and string beans.

After that, just fold in the ends and roll it up. The hummus is sticky enough to keep the filling from falling out into your lap, making this wrap even safe to eat on the subway (a rare thing for me).

That's all I've got! Please come back tomorrow for another post where I continue to master the obvious!

No comments: