hummus

Hummus is good for much more than serving as a simple dip. The bean-based food is a great source of protein and fiber, and at only 27 calories per tablespoon, it's perfect for filling up without filling out. Try these five tricks to add more hummus to your diet:

1. Add it to your meat: For a dish that packs double the protein punch, coat chicken breasts in a layer of hummus before baking or roasting. Get creative by mixing and matching different flavors of hummus with a variety of meat and seafood picks, like spicy hummus with beef kabobs.
2. Use it as a salad dressing: Spice up your standard salad by adding hummus over the greens. Prefer a thinner consistency? Toss in a small amount of hummus, lemon juice, olive oil, and vinegar.
3. Make it your go-to sandwich spread: Swap mayonnaise and mustard for your favorite flavored hummus. Regularly use pesto? Try hummus made with basil and pine nuts. Love hot sauce? Try this smoky chipotle hummus recipe.

Keep reading for more ways to work with hummus.

Hummus is one of my party-spread staples, but the beige-colored chickpea spread doesn't exactly brighten up a table. For a fresh, green take on this Middle Eastern classic, swap out the blah-looking garbanzos for vibrant edamame and frozen peas.

Perked up by mint, cilantro, and plenty of garlic, the flavors will appeal to fans of traditional hummus without feeling too familiar. Serve it alongside endive, celery sticks, or pita for dipping or use the healthy vegan dip as a spread for sammies. The recipe makes a whopping six cups, so you'll have plenty for a party and then some.

Get the edamame hummus recipe now.

We're excited to share this post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we will be bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts over on BabyCenter, including this creative Halloween snack post from Make and Take's Marie LeBaron.

My kids are hungry after they get home from school. They've been sitting and learning and playing for almost 6 hours in the day and are ready for more fuel when they get home. So we're always looking for fresh ideas for an after-school snack and these Jack o' Lantern Pita Snacks are hitting the spot!

Related: 5 Things I Can't Do After Kids

Ingredients:

• pita bread, one per jack o' lantern
• hummus spread
• yellow food coloring (optional) — to help tint the hummus orange for a pumpkin
• toppings: cheese, olives, mushrooms, cucumber, carrots

Gather all of your ingredients in bowls on a tray, along with a few plates for the kids, then let them get to work.

1. Spread a spoonful of your hummus on top of your pita bread.
2. Add toppings to your hummus pita bread to create a jack o' lantern face.

Let the kids get creative, but remind them that they will be eating this creation and everything on it. This is a great way to help get your kids to eat their veggies or try something new.

Happy Halloween!

More great stories from BabyCenter.com:
Woman Runs Marathon and Then Has Baby
Homemade Play Dough
Pregnancy and Body Image: Too Fat For Photos?
When a Stranger Interferes With Your Parenting

Homemade hummus is simple and versatile. FitSugar reader prepel takes it to another level by using quicker-cooking mung beans instead of chickpeas. She posted her recipe in our Healthy Recipe group.

There can never be too many variations of hummus. Making hummus at home is easy, but is quite time consuming when cooking your own chickpeas. Over two hours of cooking plus one hour of soaking while I have a raging hummus craving? No thank you. So I cooked up some mung beans.

This was my first time eating mung beans and they are delicious! The cooking time is only 45 minutes (no soaking required), and these babies are full of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and they are extremely low in fat! A one cup serving of cooked mung beans has 212 calories, six that are from fat. So go to your nearest health food store, buy a bag of mung beans and try this new hummus recipe!

Read the recipe after the break.

Does hummus make you happy? It makes us happy and it makes CheesePlease happy, too.

After years of perfecting this recipe, I think this one is a winner! It is always a great idea to whip up a batch at the beginning of the week to have on hand for sandwich spreads, or when you need a low-calorie snack! Hummus makes me happy.

Find the recipe on her blog and don't forget to share your own food photos with us in the YumSugar Community.

Here's a healthy dip that you can nosh on this weekend! FitSugar reader sprint2thetable posted this recipe for a butternut squash dip in our Healthy Recipe group.

Is a hummus without garbanzo beans still hummus? This recipe contains tahini. It has a hummus-like texture. It involves lemon and a little olive oil. Who cares — it is good and It's mine, so I'm deeming it worthy of the title "hummus."

Learn how to make this recipe after the break!

Whenever I pick up hummus from the grocery store, I buy the spicy red pepper varietal rather than the regular kind. But while I've made the regular many times, I've never made red pepper hummus at home. Until recently! With the help of a food processor, it's super easy to assemble. You simply blitz everything and then season to taste.

In this version, there are three kinds of peppers: roasted red peppers, which provide sweetness and color, jalapeño peppers, which add fiery spice, and for a rich smokiness, chipotle peppers in adobo. Don't be afraid to use my recipe as a guide and adjust the heat to your liking. Do serve with homemade pita chips! Get the quick and crowd-pleasing recipe here.

This hummus recipe from FitSugar reader One Hungry Mess will satisfy vegans and dairy lovers — win! She posted it in the Healthy Recipe community group.

See the recipe when you read more

If you are hosting a holiday party this season, FitSugar reader hislizzy posted a sun-dried tomato hummus recipe in our Healthy Recipe community group.

See the recipe when you read more