This Mediterranean Hummus Bowl is garnished with kalamata olives, toasted pepitas, arils, red onions, and a kiss of mint for a tasty vegetarian snack or lunch!
Calling all hummus lovers!!! This recipe is for you! It’s SO easy to make and requires no cooking, baking or chilling! You can make it the morning of a party, right before you you sit down to lunch or even when your guests are in the other room! Now if you really wanted to cook, you could totally make your own hummus from scratch but for these, it’s totally ok to use store-bought!
Hummus is not something I grew up ever eating. Honestly, I don’t think I even tried it til I was maybe in my early 30’s. Hummus wasn’t a “thing” yet in the foodie world. Oh I know it’s been around for eons and relevant in many cultures, but where I grew up, the store we shopped at and the food scene, in general, it wasn’t a popular item.
Heck, avocado toast I don’t think had yet been born!
But once I tried hummus at a new Lebanese restaurant that opened up by my work, along with beef shwarma, I was hooked! Seriously, it was like love at first bite! So light and just silky. The owners came out to chat and I asked them a million questions about it, how it’s made and so forth. I was a young budding chef who clearly was showing her ignorance but a penchant for knowledge,
After eating there weekly for close to a year, and almost a years’ worth of failed recipe recreations, they finally agreed to show me how to make it. They watched me make mine and, although the flavor was almost identical, the texture was completely different. If I did it too long in the food processor, it became almost “gummed” and tough while still being gritty.
Then they showed me theirs. Now theirs always started with fresh chickpeas that were soaked while I went with canned and drained. That does make a difference in taste slightly but had no effect on texture.
What they did next to the chickpeas, well… it blew mind as I would have never thought to do it. But in hindsight, it totally makes sense.
They removed the shell from each and every chickpea. *warning: it is time consuming but is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!* They are totally edible but they don’t break down well when you’re going for super creamy hummus. Once I got that tidbit, I made it religiously for months. Oh, I still went to that restaurant weekly even after they shared their secrets with me. I’ve shared my recipe on how to make your own hummus!
Typically hummus is used as a dip or filling. For me, I like to dress it up and make it a meal or a hefty snack. This recipe can be made as a large party platter or into lunch bowls for the week. Hummus as-is is pretty bland-looking for the most part. So why not dress it up? For this bowl, I wanted more of a Mediterranian or Greek flair. Obviously you need olives (you can totally leave them off if you don’t like them – I leave them off of mine as I don’t care for them), and next I wanted to amp up the “nuttiness” and added toasted pepitas, minced red onions for a bit of heat and bite, a few arils to add crunch, liquid, and sweet-tart. Lastly, some fresh mint to give it some brightness and, lastly, a swirl of olive oil.
Now how you serve/eat this is totally up to you. You could go with crackers, warm pita bread or even veggies. Or nothing at all and just eat as-is.
If you’re looking for ways to kick this up a notch, check out the recipe notes!
Looking for more hummus recipes?
♥ Gourmet Toasts
♥ Hummus Rollups
♥ Top these Double Bean burgers with it!
♥ Want an Avocado hummus?
♥ How about a Roasted Cauliflower Hummus?
Mediterranean Hummus Bowls
This Mediterranean Hummus Bowl is garnished with kalamata olives, toasted pepitas, arils, red onions, and a kiss of mint for a tasty vegetarian snack or lunch!
Ingredients
- 4 cups plain hummus (garlic or roasted red pepper would work too)
- 1/2 cup pepitas (shelled, raw pumpkin seeds), toasted
- 1 1/2 tablespoon red onion, minced
- 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 4 tablespoon arils
- 6–8 leaves of fresh mint, minced
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- crackers, pita bread or veggies for dipping
Instructions
- In 4 bowls (or 1 large bowl for entertaining), evenly portion out the hummus, smoothing it out in a wide circle, on each bowl sprinkle the remaining ingredients (minus the items for dipping and the oil).
- Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Serve with crackers, pita bread, veggies
Notes
Want to kick it up a notch?
Add roasted eggplant, zucchini, chopped cucumbers and or crispy chickpeas!
Want to add protein?
Make/buy some chicken or beef shwarma and add on top!
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