Super-Mega Omega Hummus

Enjoy hummus with raw veggies, homemade sourdough bread or straight up with a spoon!

This isn’t your average hummus. Well, actually, it kind of is, except instead of dodgy preservatives and poor quality highly-processed seed and vegetable oils, this version is packed with healthy anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids from unrefined flax oil and whole-food sources like hemp hearts!

NOM, NOM, NOM… face-first in some homemade hummus at 1.5 years… Now 5, and the hummus enthusiasm is still strong!

Hummus is such a great staple food to have in the house – especially for growing kids.

• It’s easy to add in all kinds of nutrient-dense whole foods like parsley, squash and mustard seeds (which also have favourable omega-3 : omega-6 ratios) – and turmeric (another anti-inflammatory power house)!
• It can be made with various other beans and pulses, or you can switch up the seeds for nuts (walnuts are another excellent omega-3 source)!
• Make it spicy, tangy or sweet… anything goes!
• Plus, kids tend to love dipping things, so hummus is a great way to encourage more fresh raw veggies.

For a bonus dose of omega-3’s, enjoy this hummus with a side of sustainably sourced seafood, like sardines or herring 😉

Here is a table listing whole foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids (source: World’s Healthiest Foods)

Super-Mega Omega Hummus

 

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Prep time

8 hours

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

9 hours

 

This hummus is great in a wrap, on a burger, as a dip for raw veggies or straight up with a spoon!

Recipe type: Dips, Dressings & Sauces

Serves: 4-5 cups

Ingredients

• 3 - 3½ cups cooked chickpeas (about 1 - 1½ cups dry chickpeas)
• ⅓ cup hemp hearts
• ½ cup unrefined, organic flax seed oil (a quality olive oil also works!)
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds (hulled, raw are best)
• ½ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• ⅓ cup water*
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp mustard seeds or quality prepared mustard
• chopped fresh basil or parsley (optional)
• *roasted squash, sweet potato or cooked quinoa (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare chickpeas. Measure about 1½ to 2 cups dry chickpeas into a medium sized pot. Cover with a few inches of water (the chickpeas will expand significantly). Allow to soak a few hours or overnight.
2. Once thoroughly soaked, strain off the water and give the chickpeas a good rinse. Again, cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and allow the chickpeas to cook for about an hour. Taste one to check for doneness. Once tender, strain and allow to cool slightly.
3. Dump chickpeas into food processor or high powered blender.
4. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed.
5. Depending on your preferred hummus consistency, you can add more lemon, water or oil (our kids tend to like it smooth and lemony). Or, if you're like my dad, add some extra pumpkin seeds for a lumpier texture.
6. *Sometimes if I have a bit of cooked squash, sweet potato or quinoa to use up, I will add this and adjust the water accordingly. More vitamins? Why not?!

Notes

You can certainly use canned chickpeas for this recipe. Just keep in mind that dry chickpeas are significantly cheaper, less wasteful, healthier, easier to digest and tastier...
If you choose to sub in some walnuts, just be aware that the resulting colour will be slightly more greyish.
Lasts about one week in the fridge.

3.5.3226

***Some ‘light’ reading on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs):

Preventing diet induced disease: bioavailable nutrient-rich, low-energy-dense diets. Anthony A. Robson. Nutrition and Health, April 2009; vol. 20, 2: pp. 135-166.

Cardiac proinflammatory pathways are altered with different dietary n-6 linoleic to n-3 α-linolenic acid ratios in normal, fat-fed pigs  Sanjoy Ghosh, Elizabeth M. Novak, Sheila M. Innis. American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology Published 1 November 2007 Vol. 293 no. 5, H2919-H2927

Dietary olive oil supplemented with fish oil, rich in EPA and DHA (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids, attenuates colonic inflammation in rats with DSS-induced colitis  Camuesco D, Gálvez J, Nieto A, Comalada M, Rodríguez-Cabezas ME, Concha A, Xaus J, Zarzuelo A. The Journal of Nutrition. 2005 Apr;135(4):687-94.

A high ratio of dietary n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids improves obesity-linked inflammation and insulin resistance through suppressing activation of TLR4 in SD rats  Liu HQ, Qiu Y, Mu Y, Zhang XJ, Liu L, Hou XH, Zhang L, Xu XN, Ji AL, Cao R, Yang RH, Wang F. Nutrition Research. 2013 Oct;33(10):849-58. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2013.07.004. Epub 2013 Aug 9