I was walking through Target the other night (you know, one of those trips where you have $14 worth of stuff on your list and end up walking out of there with your wallet $137 lighter) and noticed a new product on their shelf: yellow lentil hummus. Now, you know that I am a hummus freak. I love hummus of all kinds: chickpea, white bean, black bean…you name it, I love it. So I was pretty excited to try this new variety. There were other flavors on the shelf, but the yellow lentil one really caught my eye. I’ll pick up the other ones on my next trip.
On to the review: Vegetal, earthy, funky. But I use those descriptors in the best possible sense of each. It’s really quite tasty, with the definite flavor of lentils. The dried apricots gave a mild sweetness (but they seem to only be spooned in the middle of the tub; it’s unclear if there are more apricots pureed into the hummus), and the sunflower seeds piled on with the apricots were mostly a soggy throwaway (unless they were blended in, which I do not know). The label calls it “spicy” and “medium-hot”, and it definitely is. It’s not extremely hot, but it has a steady, lingering heat that is actually quite pleasant.
I did some calculations here, and stumbled upon something slightly jarring: each “serving” is 90 calories, and there are 10 “servings” in a container (I’m using quotes, because let’s be honest here – 2 Tbsp of hummus is not a realistic serving). So, 900 calories in a container…and I’ve been known to polish off half a container in a single sitting….wow. The reasons behind my ongoing struggle with my weight are beginning to come into sharper focus.
Eat Well Enjoy Life is a brand name that is new to me, though I understand it’s the sixth largest brand of hummus sold in the US. Amazing…seems like only a few years ago I had never even heard of hummus, and now hummus dominates the refrigerated dips, dressings and spreads sales category (the what now?), ringing up more than $325 million in annual retail sales. I think I spent that much at Target in 2012.
According to their Facebook page, they also make a type of hummus with Greek yogurt (recently favorably reviewed by Serious Eats). It’s touted as having half the fat, and only 50 calories per serving (which means I can eat twice as much, right?). I would love to get my hands on some of that. ShopRite is the only local grocery chain currently carrying the yogurt varieties, so I’ll see you there (and don’t get in my way, okay?)
Life at Goal 
They must have reformulated. A container I got in Feb 2016 was 60 calories per 28 grams (2 tbsp), 10 oz container has 10 such servings. I usually eat about 1/4 of the container at once. The last time I had some with rice crackers, I weighed the hummus I dished out (much easier than finding a clean measuring spoon….) and it turned out to be about 174 calories in my food tracker for 5.8g protein, 2.9g fiber. 15 Sesmark brown rice crackers added about 106 calories, another gram of fiber and 1.8g protein. Not bad for a small easy meal for me while I’m working. (I track to make sure I get enough protein and fiber and calories over the course of the day since I’m a stress non-eater.)