Hummus

I know that several of you have waited along time for me to post my hummus recipe! Several of you have asked for it and I have been unable to deliver. You see my recipe has been someone else's family recipe and I have never bothered to ask her for permission to share it. She was one of my college roommates and her dad is from Jordan and the recipe is very good as you can imagine! I guess I have felt like I am lucky to have the recipe myself and it is kind of a secret.

I am a bit of a hummus snob if you haven't already heard me say that before. My sister worked at a Greek restaurant in Spokane, Washington, where I am from, for many years. I believe it was about 10. I worked there one summer as well which was super fun and a delightfully tasteful job! Many of my paychecks were spent on food. So that is my excuse for being a hummus snob. You can't work there and not become pretty picky about your hummus.

So I worked a little on my own recipe so I would be able to share it with you. Granted most recipes are going to have the same basic ingredients but here is what I have come up with.

Start with one can of organic chick peas. Do NOT drain the juice! You will need all of the juice from that one can. You can just dump your whole can into the food processor and skip the bowl  if you like.

Grab a couple large garlic cloves and run them through the garlic press. Add that to the chick peas and juice in the food processor. You may decide later that you need a little more garlic but it is best to error on not using enough. Trust me. I have made that mistake because I am a garlic lover and forget that it gets more flavorful with time.

You will need some tahini. Tahini is a sesame paste and is what really gives hummus its flavor. You cannot make hummus without tahini. This one isn't necessarily my favorite one but I can buy it here in town and it is organic and raw.

You will need the juice of one lemon. Yes, you must use fresh. If you use that bottled stuff it will taste disgusting and I will be mad at you for ruining perfectly good hummus.

I am not kidding.

This is where my recipe differs from most. I like my hummus to be extra smooth. Remember I am a snob about this! You can make hummus with just this flour and no can of chick peas but it involves a little cooking so I decided to just add it to my recipe plain to see what would happen. I ended up using 1/3 of a cup. It worked.

You will need some ground cumin, paprika, and salt as well. I add about a teaspoon of both the salt and ground cumin to the mixture. Blend well after each addition to the food processor. You will need more cumin for the top with a dash of paprika as well. I also really like pine nuts and a little more roasted chopped garlic on top as well but I didn't have the pine nuts because they are outlandishly expensive!

You will also need a bit of olive oil for the top of your hummus.

It definitely turned out smoother than it has before but I think I will give just the flour a try sometime to see how that turns out. If you are wondering if I ever by store bought hummus the answer is yes! I only like two kinds though. Sabra is my favorite and I like the roasted garlic flavor or Holy Land brand. I refuse to eat all other store bought brands! I do like the hummus at Persepolis in town and I would be willing to try it at another restaurant as well.

Unfortunately, Niko's, the restaurant where my sister and I both worked in downtown Spokane closed. We were completely devastated as you can imagine. I made my sister call the owner and find out why. He said it was just time to be done. I am so sad that I won't be getting anymore Niko's food when I come home for visits! You all know how I love my Greek food.

P.S. I am also a snob about coffee. My excuse for that is that I grew up in Washington state, the birth place of Starbucks, the coffe shack on every corner, and basically the whole coffee craze!

I apologize for my snobiness!

Pam's Homemade Hummus

1 can organic chick peas and juice from that can

1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Tahini (more if desired)

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

Topping:

olive oil

paprika

ground cumin

pine nuts

Blend all ingredients in a food processor mixing well after each addition. Place hummus in a serving bowl and top with more ground cumin, paprika, and olive oil

Cleaned Up Coleslaw

Well tonight I worked on a new recipe. It involved brown rice, spinach, feta, and tahini. It was okay but it needs a little work before I can post it. It has the potential to be really good so I need to try a couple things with it. Tahini is a raw sesame paste that is so good in case you were wondering.

This was a new brand for me tonight and I really liked it which is great since you can get this in town at Cashwise (health food section). You can make a great dressing for salads from this and a great sauce for chicken and rice dishes and I am sure plenty of other things but we will stick with those for now.

Our meal was a hodge podge of sorts. We ate the leftover root vegetables, the rice dish I worked on and some coleslaw. Nothing really went together but we ate a lot of veggies so I am happy. I also didn't need any recipes again tonight. Hooray!

Since I can't post our main dish recipe yet I decided that I could tell you how to clean up your coleslaw. For the record, I hate mayonnaise based coleslaw. I won't really go near it because a soupy mess of mayonnaise in a salad is nasty. Plus they aren't healthy that way. So when I make a coleslaw it is always vinegar based.

Are you thinking about that coleslaw that everyone makes with the Ramen Noodles and the seasoning packet that comes with them? I used to love that one too. I just found a better way to make it so I can still enjoy it now without the MSG in that seasoning packet and who knows what in those noodles.

Plus I think this one is prettier with both red and green cabbage!

Tonight I cut up about half of each head of cabbage. They were fairly small heads so I am guessing I had about 4 cups of cabbage when it was all chopped up. Then I added some sliced almonds and sesame seeds. If I had sunflower seeds I would have added those as well. This way you still get the crunch that everyone enjoys when you use Ramen Noodles but in a much healthier and tasty way. I forgot that I also like green onion in this salad.

For the dressing you need to use some of this vinegar....

You can find this at Wal-Mart next to all the other vinegars and it comes in different flavors as well but I think this plain one works best for coleslaw.

Then you need a little of this magic ingredient to replace the seasoning packet...

Yep, again! I know I use this a lot but it works. Just a teaspoon or so is all you need for the coleslaw. Mix that in with some olive oil, the vinegar, and a couple packets of Stevia or sugar if you must. Give it a good whisk and pour it over your cabbage. It is best if you can give it a little time to marinate. I also added a little pepper.

So there you have it. Pretty simple but completely cleaned up and healthy. Better oil, no sugar, no MSG, and honestly, BETTER FLAVOR! You may need to add or subtract vinegar and oil according to your tastes. Here is a recipe to follow for those of you who need that.

Cleaned Up Coleslaw:

1/2 head of small green cabbage chopped

1/2 head of small red cabbage chopped

3-4 green onions chopped

sliced almonds

sesame seeds

sunflower seeds

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 -1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 teaspoon chicken base

2 packets Stevia

1 teaspoon pepper

Mix dressing ingredients together and taste. Adjust according to your taste. Pour over chopped cabbage and onion then sprinkle on almonds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. Mix well and chill for 30 minutes to marinate.