h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

delicious with pitta bread or toast (no butter or marge, mind!)

I love that stuff. I usually see it spelled 'hummus'. It can also be 'hommos' or 'hummous' or 'hoummos'. But not 'humus', because that mans dirt.

Should have said 'that MEANS dirt'. I shouldn't not preview when I'm this tired.

I've recently introduced my teenage daughter to hummus who is now addicted and the pair of us usually demolish a small tub each by dunking rice cakes (no margarine of course!) in it.

Unfortunately, my hubby who hates garlic gets annoyed at the smell that emanates from us (and the fridge) during our snack fest.

Have you tried tahini (the main ingredient in hummus) on its own or mixed with Natex (a low salt yeast extract) on toast? It's yummy!

The main ingredient in houmous IS NOT Tahini - the main ingredient in houmous are cooked chickpeas. If the main ingredient was tahini, it would be a lot fattier than it is, because tahini is made out of sesame seeds, which are full of fat. There is tahini in it but you can make it without tahini and it is almost as good.

I stand (or sit as in my case) corrected Annie. I should have said that tahini is "one" of the main (and my favourite) ingredients in hummus.

Despite their high calorie and fat content, sesame seeds are an excellent source of calcium, so they're far from "empty" calories.

I rarely have houmous without cucumber crudités - a marvellous combination of crunchyness and creaminess. Raw carrot is good for this too - in fact I find the two work together even better than cucumber, but I'm more likely to have cucumber in the fridge than carrots at any one time.

For a light lunch, houmous, cucumber/carrot/both and plain/wholemeal pitta bread (no butter/marge) are brilliant. Houmous is also nice on hot toast (again, no butter/marge as you really don't need it).

Once, a tired and irritable gardener sent his lovely and talented summer helper away to buy lunch, and it was with hummus that she returned, clever girl. Lunch that day (a hot one) consisted of the aforementioned, pieces of flatbread, and olives. Super.

JTG

Oh, yes - raw carrot dipped in houmous. Yum! Don't like tahini overmuch on its own, and although we've tried garlic-free houmous it's not very nice. Best bet is get your bloke a clothes peg for his nose, I reckon.

John, did I ever ask you if your handle is inspired by Chance-the-gardner?

Yes, it probably is... subconsciously, at least.

Drawing in dirt is an excellent way to encourage understanding

Sharing lunch is a better way.

Absolutely! Carrots dipped in humous with a little bit of humour added for good measure.

Mmmm, delicious! Humour should be a part of every meal plan.