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hummus

Heavenly Eggs on Greens

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Adapted from Classic Deviled Eggs by Alex Witchel for NYT Cooking

Prep time & cook time: 45 min

Yield: 12 halves

Ingredients

*Ingredients available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

  • 6 large eggs*
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 to 2 dashes Tabasco sauce, to taste
  • Salt, to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
  • 3 tablespoons Puckers Gourmet Masabacha*
  • Paprika, for garnish
  • Lettuce greens or microgreens*
  • Whole fresh chives, avocado, or more Masabacha*, for additional garnishes

Preparation

  1. Rinse eggs with warm water, and place in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water, place the pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for 10-12 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and peel. Cool in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for 15 minutes.
  2. Halve eggs lengthwise, and carefully scoop out yolks. Place yolks in a bowl, and mash with a fork. Add mustard, Tabasco, salt, pepper and snipped chives. Stir in Pucker’s Masabacha.
  3. Fill each egg white with about 1½ teaspoons of the egg-yolk mixture and dust the top with paprika. Arrange in a spoke design on a platter of lettuce or microgreens; add additional garnishes as desired.

 

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By Himanee Gupta

 

Masabacha looks like hummus. But it’s not. 

Masabacha is an Israeli take on hummus, with a signature Pucker Gourmet Pickles flair. The word itself is a Romanized version of an Arabic word that roughly translates to “soaked in” or “swimming,” explains Ben Hillis, who owns Puckers with his wife Kelley. In the classic version, whole-cooked chickpeas are mixed into tahini and served warm for breakfast, drizzled over pita bread. 

The Puckers version is closer to hummus in thickness but is creamier and more acidic. It contains whole chickpeas and tahini along with avocado oil, fermented apple cider vinegar, garlic, Himalayan rose sale, peppercorns, lemon juice, and smoked paprika. It can be eaten as a dip, spread, or condiment.

“It’s a little untraditional, but then so are we,” says Ben. “We like to take old traditional classics and put a contemporary twist on them.”

Puckers specializes in probiotic-rich pickles and has nearly two dozen such items. 

But, Ben notes, “Not everyone enjoys pickles, so we wanted to branch out a little.”

Both he and Kelley maintain a plant-based diet that includes many sandwich spreads. They noticed that commercial spreads were delicious but nutritionally weak. 

Hummuses were an exception, but they were hesitant to create a product that friends were selling at the farmers’ markets they brought their pickles to. Over time, however, many of these friends downsized or closed their businesses, which created a void in market offerings and an opportunity for them. 

Masabacha made its first appearance on their tables at the Saratoga Farmers Market and elsewhere during this winter. Ben explains, “We wanted to roll it out at a time of year when farmers’ market sales are low.”  

So far, the product has been popular, thanks in part to a return post-pandemic to the ability for artisanal food-makers to offer samples. 

As for how to enjoy eating masabacha, try scooping it with crackers or chips. It also works well as a salad dressing over lettuce and vegetables with chopped nuts or a hard-boiled or poached egg on top. One of Ben’s customers reported mixing it into a sauce for chicken wings. One of Ben’s favorite preparations is “Heavenly Eggs,” in which the mayonnaise of Deviled Eggs is replaced with masabacha, making the eggs “heavenly” in flavor and health benefits, too.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

 

https://www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/11564-2/

A smorgasbord of open-face sandwiches

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Recipe by parchment

Top thinly sliced pieces of Rugbrød with local produce, spreads, cheeses, or other products to prepare Scandinavian-style open-faced sandwiches.

Suggested pairings

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • Lightly salted potatoes* with sour cream and chives
  • Pork rillettes with pickles*, mustard, and pea shoots*
  • Goat cheese* with roasted root vegetables*, herbs*, and pepper
  • Hummus* with red onion* and capers
  • Butter and jam* or honey*
  • Tomato with mozzarella* and basil and a dash of flavorful olive oil
  • Olive tapenade with arugula and roasted peppers
  • Honey* with apple* and cinnamon
  • Nut butter spread* with dried fruit

Veggie Hummus Quesadilla

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Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Recipe by Barb Biagioli
Serves 2

If you’ve never tried a hummus quesadilla, you are really missing out! This snack is versatile, great fit for picky eaters, since you can add in whatever ingredients you want. With hummus as the base layer, you can stack beans, spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, peppers, kale, onions, squash, and chickpeas. You can dip them in more hummus, salsa or guacamole. They make a great lunchbox snack, they’re an easy weeknight dinner, or a snack you can cook up quickly in the afternoons.

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● 2 large tortilla (Ezekiel, whole wheat, or gluten free)
● ½ – 1 cup hummus*
● ½ onion*, chopped
● 5 cherry tomatoes*, halved
● 1 pepper*, chopped
● 1 cup spinach*
● ½ cup black beans
● 1 tsp chili powder
● 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

  1. To a medium skillet, add a bit of water or vegetable stock over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper, cooking for another 5 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes for 2-3 minutes, the chili powder and garlic powder, and then add the spinach until wilted.
  2. Meanwhile, set out your tortilla out and layer with hummus. On half of the tortilla, add half of your skillet veggies. Add half of the black beans and fold in half.
  3. In the same skillet, add your hummus quesadilla. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes until warm and crispy, lightly browned. Remove from the heat and cut into 4 triangles with a pizza cutter.
  4. Repeat with the remaining tortilla.
  5. Serve the quesadillas with additional hummus for dipping, salsa, mashed avocado or guacamole.

    Note: This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for party snacks and larger crowds.

Healthy Back to School Snacks

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By Barb Biagioli

It’s that time of year again: Back to School. This typically means back to messy mudrooms, crazy schedules, pick-ups, drop-offs, empty refrigerators and unorganized pantries, and most scary of all, “hangry” kids running amok in the afternoon hours, impatiently awaiting a snack.

If you’re back to school this season, having snacks ready to go is key to preventing meltdowns and madness. With a little bit of preparation, you can make a week’s worth of snacks ahead of time – ones to take to work, pack in kid’s lunches, keep in the fridge for after school snacks, or take on the road. I’m often asked what snacks are best for kids, what’s easy and best for on-the-go, or can be made ahead of time, so I’ll share a few of my tips with you.

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

1. Avoid snacks that come in a box, bag or wrapper, and use your local farmer’s market to inspire healthy snacks for yourself and your kids! Keep it simple, nutritious, and colorful and snacking will be tasty and fun.

2. Cut, chop, and prep easy staple snacks – like veggies for dipping – in containers in advance of the school week.

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

3. Dig out old baby food containers – you know, the ones you used for freezing pureed baby food. They’re ideal individual snack trays for your children. You can make sweet or savory trays using farmer’s market produce – try cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and carrots with hummus in the center for dipping. Or slice apple, pear, and place roasted sweet potatoes into the tray paired with nut butter.

4. Make healthy green muffins for the week, double the batch and place them in your freezer for later in the month.

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

5. Throw together a hummus quesadilla with whatever suitable produce you have left in the house. Otherwise known as the “everything but the kitchen sink” hummus quesadilla. I’ll show you how.

Seasonally, we are edging out of summer produce but still relishing in tomatoes, peppers, and dark leafy greens, as we’re also sharing in the wonders of the autumn harvest! The best of both worlds colliding to yield a farmer’s market bounty that is overflowing from bins and baskets – the perfect inspiration for our “anything goes” quesadillas. There are a few fun ways to put together a hummus quesadilla, but certainly no wrong way as long as you have some veggies on hand, hummus and tortilla wraps.

Hummus Toast

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Recipe courtesy of My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Serves: 1

INGREDIENTS

All ingredients are currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

  • 1 slice of thick whole grain bread
  • 1 garlic clove
  • hummus
  • 2 thin slices of fresh tomato
  • 3 thin slices of red onion
  • balsamic dressing
  • baby greens
  • micro greens and arugula

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Before toasting the bread, lightly rub a peeled garlic clove over the toast. Toast until browned.
  2. Spread a layer of hummus on the toasted bread.
  3. Place tomato slices and red onion slices on top of the hummus. Drizzle a little balsamic dressing.
  4. Top with baby greens and micro greens and enjoy!