Sunday, August 11, 2013

Easy Homemade Vegan Hummus and Naan from Scratch

This simple meal takes little hands-on time, and makes a perfect, light summer dinner paired with a fresh Greek salad.
I had misplaced my recipe card, so I was looking online at various recipes. Naan is so simple, they must all be similar, right? Wrong. Most recipes called for 10 different ingredients, including yogurt and ghee, and required up to 4 hours of preparation time.
What. No. Here's my one-hour, 4 ingredient recipe. The easy-to-remember ratio is 4: 2: 1: 1

Naan

4 cups flour of your choice. I use bread flour.
2 cups warm water
1 tbs yeast
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Stir until a soft dough form. If dough is dry, add a little warm water. If dough is wet and sticky, add a little flour. 

Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Turn out and work the dough with a little flour until it's nice and smooth. Do not overwork. Let rest. 

Heat a skillet, griddle, stove top grill, or fine mesh bbq grill. Or whatever. A flat heat source of your choice. 

If necessary, brush surface with oil to prevent sticking. 

Pinch off small handfuls of dough. Work each one into a large, flat oval or circle, like a little crust. Place on hot grill or pan. If will cook and rise very fast. Less than a minute on each side. Remove to a tray and allow to cool slightly. 

Serve warm with hummus. 


Place cooled leftover naan in a large freezer bag. Store in freezer. When ready to use, reheat in 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, or in microwave for 30 seconds. 

Hummus

In my little town, hummus is a specialty item and sells for around $1 an ounce. This is crazy to me, because where I grew up, it's as common as peanut butter. It's essentially seasoned, mashed beans, and costs less than $2 a pound to make. 

1 pint (or one can) cooked chickpeas (garbanzos)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp tahini, or substitute peanut butter, soy nut butter, sunbutter, almond butter, or any other nut or seed butter you prefer
drizzle olive oil
pinch salt, to taste

Start by cooking dry chickpeas. I use a crock pot or pressure cooker, depending on how far in advance I plan. Cook the whole pound and freeze all but one pint in canning jars or freezer bags.

Or use a can. 

Place all ingredients except olive oil in blender jar or food processor. Add a little of the liquid from the beans, to help it move. Blend until smooth, drizzling a little olive oil until you have a nice, creamy texture. 

Spoon into a bowl and serve warm with fresh naan. 







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