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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Traditional Hummus

Ethan and I were married in the Los Angeles LDS Temple. After we got married, we stayed in California and we plan on doing just that. Once the wedding chaos subsided, I had to come down from my cloud and get a job. So I worked at a car dealership for 2 years before Ethan and I started a family.

During my time at the dealership, I met a lot of people from all over the world. Car dealerships seem to be quite diverse. We used to have monthly pot lucks and everyone from the sales manager to the lot porters brought something to share. I loved these potlucks because I got to try so many new foods from all over the place. Jose the service porter would have his mom make pasole. Jake in finance would bring loads of baklava. Lynton in sales would bring something wonderful wrapped in grape leaves. And Sandra in the back office would load us all up on hummus. It was then that I fell in love with hummus.

And I think you should too.



2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas/garbonzo beans
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon juice, depending on your taste
olive oil, parsley, paprika or cumin for serving

Rinse the chickpeas, then place in a saucepan with water to cover by one inch. Put your hands in the pot and gently rub the chickpeas against each other. Place saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil and simmer until chickpeas are very soft: test a chickpea by squeezing it between your fingers, it should smash easily, this could take between 5 and 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, skim off any chickpea skins that have floated to the surface and discard them.

Place the garlic and salt in a food processor and pulse to chop. Add the tahini and lemon juice and process until the mixture is lightened in color. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chickpeas to the processor (don't discard the cooking liquid) and process until very smooth. Thin the hummus to the desired consistency with the reserved cooking liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning with lemon juice and salt.

Spread hummus in a shallow bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices if desired.

Rookie's Notes: I recently read a recipe online for hummus and they said that tahini is toasted sesame oil. Oh how far off that is! Those two things are totally different ingredients with different flavors. Make sure you are using tahini and not sesame oil.

7 comments:

Megan said...

Pansy. Make your own tahini paste.

Rae said...

How divine! I am a new lover of hummus! I am definitely keeping this recipe to try.

Janeen said...

i am so excitted about this becuase this is all Hal could talk about when we where at your mom & dad's in December

Mal Robin said...

I think you are like a gift from heaven. Bless you.

Jodi Jean said...

mmmmmm ... i love hummus ... and there is nothing better than homemade hummus. and you MUST use tahini ... there is NO substitute. dang ... now i'm craving this ... and i have no tahini.

Unknown said...

I LOVE hummus and have always wanted to make some. I WILL be trying this recipe for sure!

whitneyingram said...

Meg, yes I am a pansy.

Rae, for sure give this a try. Great with veggies or pita bread.

Janeen, Haley makes a dang good hummus. She roasts the chick peas.

Mal, come over and worship whenever you want.

Jodi, Albies has tahini in the international food section.

Jenn, you will love it, I promise! Add some roasted red peppers too. That is tasty!