Wholesome Eating With Pomegranate & Walnut Hummus!

We all love hummus, I mean I don't know a single soul that doesn't love the stuff. It's healthy, it's easy to make and it's tasty. But sometimes you want to mix it up with new flavour combinations. And this is one of the best with the added goodness of walnuts and pomegranate!

I first tried this in a commercially made dip. It was so good that the little tub disappeared within two days. I think maybe Mr NQN even got some but I can't say that for sure. I plead the fifth Your Honour. Anyway I decided that I had to make my own version or at least try.

I know right, that is quite a long list of ingredients beyond pomegranate and walnuts and it doesn't look too pretty but I'm willing to bet that the ingredients are pantry staples if you cook with many of them being spices. And usually my hummus is a super easy version (see here). But I'm one of those people that likes to recreate ideas at home and when I looked on the back of the packaging I saw a whole lot of flavours and trust me, they make this hummus worth making.

The quantity below is around 2-3 cups' worth which feeds a lot but we can't get enough of it. It's a great lunchbox staple with some triangles of pita bread and a healthy snack as well. In a pinch we've also eaten it for dinner. Because you know what? Hummus makes us happy. Take a look at the happy hummus dude below.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you love hummus?

Pomegranate & Walnut Hummus

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes (really just assembling the ingredients)

Cooking time: 0 minutes

• 500g/1.1lbs. drained tinned chickpeas (about 2x400g tins' worth)
• 100g/3.5ozs. walnuts, toasted
• 300ml/10.6fl ozs. purified water
• 100ml/3.5fl ozs. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 red onion
• 4 tablespoons pomegranate juice
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

To toast walnuts, spread out on a single layer on a baking tray and roast in a 180C/350F oven to 8-10 minutes until fragrant.

Step 1 - Process the chickpeas, walnuts, most of the water (reserve about 1/2 cup), oil, garlic, onion, pomegranate juice, tahini, lemon juice and vinegar until it becomes a smooth consistency. I did it in my Oster Versa because I wanted it to be super smooth. Add the additional water to make it smooth.

Step 2 - Add the salt (start with 1 teaspoon), sugar, sumac, cayenne pepper, cumin and coriander and process again. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed (hummus is bland without salt).