Easy Appetizer Hummus Platter

When making a hummus platter, you can totally use store-bought hummus if you want. Skip past this section if that’s what you would like to do. If you want to make homemade hummus, follow these tips for making the creamiest, dreamiest dip:

• Equipment: Use a food processor with the S-blade or a high-powered blender to make homemade hummus. I use a Cuisinart 11-cup food processor.
• Chickpeas and baking soda: If you want to make creamy hummus similar to the kind you would get at a restaurant, consider boiling the chickpeas with baking soda first. This is a tip that’s used by a lot of chefs, including Mike Solomonov of Philadelphia’s renowned Zahav restaurant. The baking soda increases the pH of the water, which helps break down bonds within the chickpeas that hold them together. As a result, they get very soft and can then be blended into a very smooth consistency (which is what you want for hummus)! A lot of hummus recipes call for cooking dried chickpeas from scratch with baking soda, but you can do it with canned chickpeas and save a lot of time. Put a can of drained chickpeas in a saucepan, then add ½ teaspoon baking soda and enough water to cover them by a couple of inches. Boil them for 20 minutes, drain, and rinse.
• Tahini: Homemade hummus aficionados recommend using tahini made with sesame seeds from Ethiopia, especially Humera seeds, that have a high fat content and great flavor. Soom and Mighty Sesame Co. tahini are made with Ethiopian seeds and have a really smooth texture without any bitter taste IMO. There are more great tahini brands out there too. You may need to try a few to see which one you like best.
• Ice water: Another tip from hummus experts, including Zahav’s chef, is using ice water throughout the process to emulsify the tahini and chickpeas so that the ingredients don’t separate. This leads to an extremely smooth, almost fluffy texture.

When arranging a hummus platter, follow these tips to create a visually stimulating and beautiful presentation:

• Use a variety of colorful vegetables in different shapes and sizes. Include some classics, like carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes, alongside options you don’t always see on appetizer boards. I like to add thin slices of regular and watermelon radishes, snap peas (sliced in half lengthwise to expose the peas in the shell), purple or yellow cauliflower florets, blanched green beans, jicama sticks, or long broccolini stalks.
• Consider cooked vegetables instead. Roasted or blanched vegetables are a great option for hummus plates if you’re looking for something different. Blanched green beans and asparagus are fun for the spring, while roasted root vegetables like baby potatoes, parsnips, beets, turnips, and carrots are good for winter. In the summer, consider roasting zucchini, tomatoes, red onion, and bell peppers to spread on top of hummus with goat cheese and fresh mint.
• Add fresh herbs or even edible flowers. I love mint, parsley, and basil on hummus. Rosemary or thyme are great choices if you use root vegetables. If you can find edible flowers like pansies, they’re a beautiful addition!
• Include something salty, crunchy, or sweet. If you want to mix it up, add olives, nuts or seeds, or fresh or dried fruit.
• Serve the toppings right on the hummus or separately. I love to make my hummus platter look like a garden and serve the vegetables sitting right on top of the hummus, usually just on one side of the platter or bowl. That way, people have the option to scoop up hummus from the side without toppings if they just want to eat it with pita. You can also put the hummus in a large bowl or a few small bowls and arrange the veggies and other dippers around them.

If you’re inspired by this hummus platter, check out these other posts while you’re here:

• Cold Bruschetta Dip with Crème Fraîche
• Healthy Celery Snack with Herbed Mascarpone
• Baked Ricotta Dip with Honey and Crispy Brussels
• Roasted Beets and Burrata with Orange Balsamic
• Roasted Veggie Flatbread Appetizer