STAY AT HOME AND MAKE HUMMUS!

Anyone else feeling cooped up? The beautiful beginning days of spring had me feeling especially nostalgic for the feeling of the hustle and bustle of the first few weekends of spring, when everyone is out and excited to be outside. I used to live in Tel Aviv and whenever we had a Friday(first day of the weekend there) with perfect early spring or late fall temperatures we’d run down the boardwalk of the sea down to Jaffa, to wait in line with dozens of other people to get hummus, from the best, a restaurant called Abu Hassan.

In the Middle East, Hummus is not something you’ll see on a sad snack plate. Hummus is a meal on it’s own, that should be eaten warm and tastes best when it doesn’t come out of a package or a can! Real hummus lovers (like me!) are not there to eat the pita, and are often spotted slurping up the good stuff with a spoon, or even more traditionally with a slice of onion! This can be said for plain original hummus or with a variety of toppings! I provide a bunch of ideas below.

Chickpeas are also a legume that I notice a-lot of my clients (and myself included) do well with, annndddd combining them with tahini (sesame seeds ) makes hummus a complete protein!

So on this past Social Distanced Sunday, I went out for my first run in a while, enjoyed the sunshine, and came home to make Hummus. Perfect way to spend the day! I hope you try it!

Feeds 3-5 depending on your topping situation and how hungry you are!

Basic Hummus Recipe:

About 1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

3-4 cloves of garlic

A few tablespoons of lemon juice

~ 1 cup of tahini

Salt

A few tablespoons of ice water

Soak the chickpeas overnight in filtered water. Put at least twice the amount of water as chickpeas!

Once soaked, drain chickpeas. Put in a pot with the baking soda and cook over high heat for about three minutes stirring constantly.

Add Several cups of water to cover the chickpeas + an additional 2 inches of water and boil for 2-40 minutes, or until chickpeas are tender and collapse easily when pressure is applied to them. Remove foam on the top of the pot. Drain and rinse chickpeas.

Put chickpeas in a food processor with the remaining ingredients except for the water. Process until smooth. Slowly add 1 tbs at a time of the ice water until desired consistency is achieved. I let mine process for a few minutes to make it extra creamy!

Transfer to a bowl and tightly cover. Let sit for about 15-30 minutes.

Spoon into bowl, making a well for your desired toppings (see below!) but you can’t go wrong with olive oil, parsley, and lemon!

Eat warm! Serve alongside onion slices to scoop up the hummus, pickles and if you must, pita!

Topping Ideas

Traditional toppings include:

Spiced Lamb or Meat*

A Hard-Boiled Egg

Toasted Pine Nuts

Herbs, fresh chickpeas, lemon, olive oil and/ or spices.

Less traditional ideas:

Sautéed Mushrooms

Roasted Veggies

Caramelized Onions

Roasted Garlic

*Spiced lamb or beef is common! I used grass-fed ground beef seasoned with allspice, cinnamon and zaatar. Feel free to play with ideas! Cumin and paprika would be good spices to season meat!