Hummus
The Classic!!
Hummus is an authentic Levantine dish found in the heart of every Lebanese mezza table. This is a family recipe that can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It’s a nice treat given to a neighbor or a friend. An excellent source of fiber and protein for healthy eaters. Most importantly it’s simple!
Ingredients:
350 g of cooked chickpeas (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 medium lemon
1 large fresh clove garlic
2 tablespoons of Tahini Paste
1 tsp salt
Olive Oil, Paprika, and Parsley for topping
Direction to make home made cooked chickpeas:
Put the bag of dried chickpeas in a large pot.
Fill the pot with water (double the amount of chickpeas in the pot) and add a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Start boiling on medium heat.
Allow the chickpeas to boil until they become tender. Then lower the heat when it starts to boil. This process can take up to two hours based on how many chickpeas you make
Caution: if left on high heat for a long time, the baking soda will react and spill outside the pot. Make sure to adjust the temperature when it starts to boil.
When the chickpeas are tender, allow 30 minutes to cool down completely. Drain from the water.
Note: if you have extra chickpeas in the pot, drain them from the water, put them in a Ziploc bag and freeze for next time.
Place about 2 1/2 cups of the cooked chickpeas in a blender. Must be room temp. Add lemon juice, minced clove garlic, salt and tahini paste to the blender.
Blend on high for 1-2 minutes well until creamy. The mixture might get stuck in the blender. Stop it, push the chickpeas with a spoon and blend again. Don’t recommend adding water.
Spread the Hummus in a plate, and add olive oil on the top and decorate as desired.
Use Pita bread to dip.
For decoration slice a few leaves of parsley very thin, and sprinkle to the side. Also, add a few chickpeas in the middle!
Enjoy, or as they say in Lebanon, Sahtaen!
