How vibrant is this bowl of loveliness? It is a wonderfully luscious iron-rich, Spinach and Parsley Green Houmous.
We eat gallons of houmous at GF HQ, but sometimes the basic recipe can get a little ‘same old same old’. Fortunately, the blend of chickpeas and tahini lends itself to an incredible versatility of flavour combinations and pretty much anything can be thrown at it in effort to tickle the tastebuds.
Back in August last year, I ventured to make my first home-made houmous….. deliciously fringed with a hint of nuttiness from the use of walnut oil and spiced with paprika and cumin. The biggest revelation though, was how easy it was to make and I began to ask myself why I eat so much of the commercially-produced stuff.
Whilst I confess, as a busy Mum with a full time job, the super-convenient supermarket houmous pots still sneak into my basket, when time is on my side, I have enjoyed making my own and experimenting with new flavours and ingredients. The recipe that I share here is one of those experiments……. and it came from wanting my houmous to be green.
Well green I got. Bright bright green! With a combination of spinach and parsley, this houmous is not only beautiful, but also really healthy and packed full of nutrients known to improve vitality and energy levels. The high levels of iron found in both these leaves improve the quality of your blood, by helping with the effective transport of oxygen round the body. Both are also fantastic sources of vitamins A, K, C and folic acid too, essential for maintaining bone health, good immunity, healthy skin and bones. And because they are used raw, none of the goodness has been lost to the cooking pot.
If it sounds too good to be true, wait until you taste it. This houmous is smooth and rich, with a back-hit of garlic and lemon. Perfect with tortilla chips, crackers, as a dip for crudités or eaten with delicious gluten free toast made using my Revolutionary GF Brown Bread recipe.
Spinach is coming into full season right now, so make the most of it! It’s also a perfect recipe for St Patrick’s Day……
I am sharing my Green Houmous with the following :
Meat Free Mondays with Tinned Tomatoes.
Cook Once Eat Twice with Searching for Spice.
Simple & in Season with Feeding Boys
Eat Your Greens with Allotment 2 Kitchen and The VegHog.
Cook Blog Share – this week with Hijacked By Twins.
Simply Seasonal with Hijacked By Twins.
Sunday Fitness & Food with Ilka’s Blog and Marathons & Motivation.
Gluten free AND Vegan (or thinking of heading that way?) – check out my post on Gluten Free Vegan – Surviving Veganuary and Beyond
Spinach & Parsley Houmous
Ingredients
good grind black pepper
80g baby spinach leaves (washed)
20g flat-leaf parsley
approx 5 tablespoons (75 ml) cold water
Method
- Put all the ingredients in a blender, except the water.
- Adding the water a tablespoon at a time, blend at high power until the houmous is smooth. Add a drop more water to ‘loosen’ if you need to.
- Enjoy with toast, tortilla chips, etc.
I'm loving the riot of green from this dip… I could dive straight in with my nachos right this minute! I hardly ever make my own hummus, which is shockingly lazy of me given I have a great blender. You've inspired me to do something about this…. Thanks for hooking up with Simple and in Season this month xxx
Thanks Katie. You're welcome!
I know exactly what you mean though….. it's the easiest dish on the planet, yet I still head to the supermarket instead of making my own often enough! x
What a gorgeous colour! I used to make houmous all the time and then I got lazy and started buying it instead. I love the flavours you've got in this one and yes, you really do have to make it yourself to get it like this. I'll have to have another go at it soon. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Thanks Corina. Whenever I make houmous I question why I ever buy it as it is so easy….. but sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day x
Ooooh Kate, yes please! This looks and sounds so good, this needs to be made! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thanks Kirsty. You're welcome xx
that looks epic.. i've been quite addicted to hummus recently but haven't quite got round to making my own. Your recipe sounds great and that colour.. wow!
Thanks Dom. Houmous can be very addictive. Home-made means you can be as creative as you like…… hence the very very green! x
This looks absolutely amazing! I love the taste of parsley and have really been feeling like I need more iron in my diet lately so I will definitely try this.
Thanks Mandy. I hope you like it xx
Wow that is Lush! Proper Welsh word. Love how vibrant the green is. Happy St Patrick's Day. This part of Wales shows no signs of celebrating it which makes me a little sad, but today brought back good memories of when i lived in Glasgow and the streets were buzzing. Thanks also for sharing with #EatYourGreens
Thanks Shaheen. Shame it's not celebrated much in your part of the world (although I think the celebrations get less everywhere year on year….. except may be in Ireland…). x
This looks fabulous you clever lady! A lovely vibrant green…looks super good for you!
Thanks Vicki. super super good! x
happy st pat's day – seeing this glorious green dip cheered me up after walking through our high street and reflecting on how little the people around me celebrate st pat's day and I don't have much energy for it today but will try and make something green for dinner
Thanks Johanna. It was certainly very green. But it tasted great too x