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Summer Hummus

I'm giving you quantities as a guide, but you don't need to measure anything. Just cover each layer with the next layer of vegetables, using more or less to your preference.

Ingredients

  • 1 8 ounce container prepared hummus
  • 1 cucumber peeled, seeded if necessary, and chopped
  • 1 cup chopped tomato
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 ears of corn on the cob
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • fresh basil
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • naan pita or chips for serving

Instructions

  1. Shuck and clean corn. Place over a hot grill for about 10 minutes, turning to insure all sides are grilled. You want to get some blackened parts, but don't leave it on the grill too long or it will overcook.
  2. Remove corn from grill, let it cool a little so that you can handle it. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the kernels off. (See notes for tips on this)
  3. Season chopped tomato with salt and pepper. (Don't do this too far in advance or the salt will pull out a lot water from the tomato.)
  4. Spread hummus thinly on your serving plate.
  5. Layer remaining vegetables in this order: cucumber, tomato and corn.
  6. Sprinkle feta cheese on top.
  7. Scatter the top with some torn basil leaves and drizzle olive oil over all.
  8. Serve with hot toasted naan, pita bread or other chip. Or, wrap it up and have it for lunch.

Recipe Notes

*I only season the tomatoes because I think tomatoes should always be seasoned. I also don't want anything else to get too juicy or the dish will get too sloppy. I like that the cucumber is not salted. It makes for a solid first layer on top of the hummus and there's plenty of flavor in the hummus to carry the cucumber. The feta on top does the same for the corn.

*To cut the kernels off of the corn, I take a large mixing bowl and place a small bowl upside down in the bottom of it. This creates a stand for the end of the corn to stand on vertically. Then, holding the top of the corn, I can cut the kernels off easily and they fall right into the bowl instead of all over my counter.

*I used an English cucumber and still decided to seed it. For this dish, I really like just the crisp cucumber with no interference from seeds and extra juices.

*This is great dish for a crowd. Just double, triple or quadruple the quantities and serve on a larger tray. You can prep everything in advance (except the tomatoes which should be cut and seasoned just before layering.) Keep all components separate, then assemble layers just before serving. The Merchant Baker Copyright © 2015