Hummus, houmous humus or humous. However you like to spell it, this is one awesome post ride snack. Even better, it doesn’t require too many fancy ingredients; chances are that you’ll already have most of the stuff in the cupboard right now. Genius.
You’ll need about 500g of chickpeas. I tend to buy them pre-cooked in a jar but you can use dried ones and cook them beforehand. the juice of 1 lemon, some whole peppercorns, salt and some olive oil, best quality you can afford.
Grind up your peppercorns. I used a mortar and pessel but you can use what you like. Black peppercorns are great or here I had a mix of colours.
Into a largeish bowl chuck the chickpeas, olive oil and healthy sprinkling of pepper, not forgetting to squeeze in your lemon juice.
Whizz up with a stick blender or other electrical device. I havn’t tried this part by hand yet, let me know if you can make it work. Add salt (and more pepper) to taste.
Eat with tortilla chips, toasted bread or just your fingers. It’s that good!
Let me know how you like it. What other flavours do you suggest?
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CyclingSnack’s first foray into savoury snacks is this very simple, but incredibly tasty Tomato Bruschetta. The Italian apetizer will get any meal off to a flying start, or in my experience makes a great snack straight after a ride with a refreshing beverage of your choice. The recipe uses just 4 main ingredients – Tomatos, Bread, Garlic and Olive Oil. Freshly chopped basil is often used in this combination, though I didnt have any to hand on this day.
The secret to this snack is really in acquiring the best ingredients you can, especially in regards to the tomatoes. Traditionally, ripe Italian plum tomatoes are the product of choice, but I think it should work OK with most varieties if they’re large and ripe. Again with the garlic and olive oil, find the best you can. Garlic is rarely too expensive, olive oil on the other hand can vary in price greatly. Go for the best you can afford, you won’t regret it. Oh and the bread, living in France I take great bread for granted, but finding (or making) a decent loaf is a must.
Finely chop the garlic, how much you use is up to you. Maybe one clove to 2 large tomatoes is a good start. You can always taste and add more. Bear in mind you will be rubbing garlic on the bread later too, so keep a clove spare.
Peeling the tomatoes – bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the whole tomatoes for about 30 seconds then plunge into cold, (preferably iced) water. The tomatoes will now be super easy to peel.
Cut in half and with the cut side down, squidge most of the juice out. Then dice them up and put in a bowl with the chopped garlic. Top Tip: the leftover tomato juice makes an excellent little drink for while you work.
Add liberal amounts of salt, pepper and olive oil to the garlic and tomatoes, mix well and put in the fridge. Now go ride!
I took a spin to a DIY warehouse to pick up a few new tools. Its amazing how many tools I had forgotten I absolutely needed. In the end I had to get a new toolbox as well too to put them all in. Toast some slices of your bread and cutting the saved garlic clove from earlier in half, rub the cut side on the warm, toasted bread.
Dollop on the of the tomato mix from earlier, add some fresh basil if you have some, et voila, post ride heaven.
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Another twist on a classic cycling snack. Last time it was beetroot, this time those magic green nuts. Let me present, Slightly Sugared Pictachio and Chocolate Brownies.
You will need:
225g Butter * 110g Dark Chocolate * 400g Caster Sugar * 4 Beaten Eggs * 2 tsp vanilla extract *170g Plain Flour * 1/2 tsp Baking Powder.
De-shell the Pistachio nuts into a Mortar to get crushed up. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle just improvise with whatever is at hand. After crushing, sprinkle some sugar and mix well. Set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate together on the hob. Take off the heat and add the sugar, mix it up well then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix the baking powder with the flour then sieve both into the chocolate mixture. I didn’t have a sieve, so improvised with this thing, it was hard work. I’d really quite like a sieve. Fold the flour into the chocolate mixture.
Pour mixture into smallish baking tin lined with parchment. Pop into the oven at 160 degrees for about 20mins. After this time take a sneaky peek and sprinkle on your sugared pistachios from earlier. Close oven door again until cooked (stab it with a knife and if the blade comes out clean its done). Leave somewhere to cool while you hunt around for your cycling gear (or your shoes dry).
Wrap up your cycling snack and hit the trail. Today I was riding one wheel, something which hasn’t appeared too much on the blog so far, but you’ll no doubt see more of in the future.
Considering adding a paypal ‘donate for a new sieve’ button. Any takers?
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