hummus

So awhile back when I gave up drinking nasty ensure and was looking for other ways to add protein to my diet, I had what I thought was a brilliant idea: make a nice watery hummus for dinner!


soupy hummus

I would start with canned chick peas and add fresh food coop cilantro and a roasted red pepper and garlic. I'd make my own tahini by smashing toasted sesame seeds, season with freshly ground pepper and coarse Kosher salt, and stir in plenty of lemon juice and olive oil. It would be smooth and creamy, and a delicious way to sneak protein into my liquid diet.


canned chick peas and their juices, one sweet roasted red pepper, cilantro, two roasted garlic cloves and toasted sesame seeds mashed into tahini paste seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Well, somehow, even though I did just that, mixing it all up with the immersion blender, something about it was all wrong. Maybe it's just that hummus is intended to be a thicker paste spread on crackers. Maybe my mind rebelled against the lack of contrasting crunch and texture. Maybe I used too many chickpeas and not enough of the other ingredients. Maybe it's just that foods become far less appetizing when you're slurping them off a spoon and getting food all over your mouth with every bite. Whatever it was, eating this hummus was a struggle. It was never very appealing to start with, but with each passing bite, it became more and more difficult to convince myself to continue.


this hummus was my foe

Ultimately, I had to toss the leftovers in the trash. I did the best I could, but that hummus kicked my ass and sent me packing.

Unfortunately, this was all too often the case with the food I cooked myself during my time on the liquid diet. It's a real challenge to create meals that remain palatable when strained through your teeth, and while I made progress, I never quite mastered the art. I'm set to have my wires cut and rubber bands put in tommorrow, only two weeks later than planned, and I can't tell you what a relief it will be to be able to open my mouth and brush my tongue and lick my lips and put soft foods on a spoon and eat them without slurping or drinking through a straw. Trust me, it can't come quickly enough.