Hummus and Crackers for (Not Really a) Recipe Friday

I don’t have any new recipe for today, but I thought I’d share my lunch adventures over the past few weeks. In my efforts to be dairy free and wheat free, as well as increase my fiber intake, I have started having hummus and crackers for lunch almost every day. I also have an apple or some other piece of fruit, but that is even less of a recipe!

I must admit, I am surprised by how much I like hummus because I do not like whole garbanzo beans (or chick peas) at all. I’ve had soup with them in it and I always leave the garbanzos in the bottom of the bowl. But there is something about them being mashed into a paste with garlic and other delicious spices added that makes them delicious.

I suppose I should figure out how to make my own hummus — it would probably be cheaper than buying it pre-made — but there are so many delicious flavors and brands of hummus on the market it just doesn’t seem worth the effort.

The first brand I bought was made by a local Portland company and sold at Whole Foods, and was a roasted red pepper hummus. It was excellent, but I don’t get to Whole Foods very often so I had to try the brands that they sell at Safeway where I do my main grocery shopping. (Safeway is 1 ½ blocks from my house, so it is really a convenience issue). I’ve only tried one brand that they sell, and that is Sabra. They have a variety of flavors.

My favorite so far is the Roasted Pine Nut Hummus, but Roasted Red Pepper is a close second. Last week I bought Supremely Spicy Hummus thinking a little kick might be tasty. I guess the fact that it had a picture of a hot pepper on the label and I was stirring in a bunch of chopped pepper paste with seeds should have been a clue, but I was surprised with the first bite how supremely spicy it really was! I’m hoping I can get my hubby to eat the rest of this flavor and I won’t buy it again, but if you like spicy this might be the flavor for you.

After the first time I had hummus for lunch, and had eaten about a third of the container in one sitting, I decided to read the label about serving size and fiber content. I had to laugh at the Sabra serving size, which is two tablespoons and there are 10 in a container! That means I had eaten over 3 servings. I suppose if you were eating it for a snack, that would be too much, but as a lunch 3 servings seems about right.

Now a little about my cracker choices — a much bigger challenge when you want dairy and wheat free. I first tried rice crackers, and they are okay but can be kind of bland and don’t have much fiber. I wanted to use my favorite Blue Diamond Nut Thins, but discovered that they have butter in them. I was very disappointed about this.

I decided to try rye crackers because I like rye and you can get them both dairy and wheat free. The first brand I tried was Wasa Crispbread, but it was pretty dry. It was good with hummus, but when I wanted them to do double duty as a dipping cracker with soup they were too much like cardboard.

Next I tried Ry Krisp brand crackers. These are excellent with hummus and also work well for dipping in soup! Plus 2 medium-sized crackers provide 3 grams of fiber and are only 50 calories, so for a super healthy lunch I can eat 4 or 6 of them with hummus and not feel hungry at all.

So that’s my adventures into easy, healthy, dairy and wheat free lunching. I’m not sure I would eat this every day if I didn’t have to avoid dairy and wheat, but I definitely enjoy this lunch. Add a little almond or toasted coconut snack mid-afternoon and I am satisfied all day long at work.