Hummus Toast 4 Ways

Once upon a time, I hated hummus. True story. Most of my food aversions are texture related, but this was a simple dislike of the taste. But, I am soooooooo glad that hating hummus was a short lived phase. Because now, I cannot get enough of the stuff.

Let's start building our toasts. And for toast, we need bread! You can use your favorite slice of bread here. A slice of sourdough is nice. So is a slice of Italian bread. A whole wheat variety is always delish. Here's the main goal with our bread for these toasts...we want something with some surface area. The larger the slice of bread, the more we can pile on top of it, right?!?! We don't need anything too thick, because toasting the bread will make it nice and sturdy for our toast. It's the breadth of the bread that counts.

P.S. Say that 10 times fast. Breadth of bread. Breadth of bread.

For each of our toasts, we're going to give them a healthy schmear of the creamiest, dreamiest homemade hummus on the planet. The ingredients are traditional: chickpeas, tahini, lemon, olive oil, seasonings... But, the secret to this hummus is peeling the chickpeas first. The texture difference between hummus using peeled chickpeas vs non peeled is uncanny. Tastewise, both ways are delicious. But, do yourself a favor and take the extra few minute investment to peel the chickpeas. You won't regret it. And, don't cheat and buy the hummus. You could, but nothing beats homemade.

Once our toast and hummus is ready to go, all that's left to do is top them! We're making 4 different varieties that couldn't be simpler or more delicious.

First up is our cucumber salad toast. Take some diced cucumber, fresh dill, evoo, and capers; toss them together, and top the toast. First toast...done!

Our second toast is spicy avocado toast. If carbs on carbs is a thing now, so is healthy fats on healthy fats. We're going to take some creamy sliced avocado, and lay it right on top of our creamy hummus. Top the whole situation with a sprinkle of chopped jalapeno, a squeeze of lime juice, and a sprinkle of flaky salt; and toast #2 is done!

For our third toast, we're going to make a caprese toast. In this scenario, we let the hummus replace the traditional mozzarella. But, we still have plenty of fresh tomatoes and basil sauce piled on top. I chose to use my beloved basil chive vinaigrette for this recipe, but a drizzle of basil pesto works just fine here too. Finish this toast with flaky salt as well, and our third toast is complete!

The final act in our toast line up is a simple egg toast. All we need is a perfectly runny egg and a sprinkle of aleppo pepper for an extra zing of flavor. Lay the egg on the toast, give it a pinch of seasoning, and that completes that fourth and final toast!

These toasts started as a breakfast recipe, but they're perfect for lunchin' and snackin' too. The chickpeas in the hummus provide protein to help keep us full, and the veggies provide nutritional crunch and freshness to help us feel like we're being healthy with these.

And carbs on carbs aside, these really are pretty healthy!

I seriously think I could eat at least one of these hummus toasts every day for the rest of forever, and it still wouldn't be enough. The warm and crispy bread plus the cool and creamy hummus plus all the flavorful toppings really make for the ultimate bite.

I hope you enjoy! And, let's eat!