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Alice Dishes

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April 16, 2017

The Best Hummus. Ever.

I’m a fan of hummus. It’s nutritious, tasty and makes for a great snack when you’re in a hurry. Although I’ve made my own for a while now, it’s always involved grabbing a can opener and cranking open a tin of organic garbanzo beans. But no more. I’m now a convert to cooking my own chickpeas.

I’d heard that dried beans are better for many reasons: 1) they’re cheaper (buy in bulk at Wholefoods) 2) they can be easier to digest if you soak them for 12 hours and cook them to your preferred doneness 3) they simply taste better and, 4) it’s better for the environment if you not chucking another can in the recycling.

I’ve recently updated this recipe based on a cooking class I took with an Israeli chef. It turns out that hummus is designed to be a meal, and served warm. I can tell you that it completely changes everything! In a good way. Absolutely delish.

soaked chickpeas | www.alicedishes.com

Soaked chickpeas

*Note: Two friends swear by using a pressure cooker to cook the garbanzo beans. Apparently it takes less than 20 minutes and makes for sublime results.

Best. Ever. Hummus

By alice
April 16, 2017

A delicious hearty hummus. Serve warm (yes warm!) and top with olive oil, tomatoes and even fresh grilled fish for a satisfying meal.

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  • 12h
  • 90h

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 3 tablespoons filtered water (add a small amount at a time)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 juice of two lemons

Instructions

  1. Put your dried chickpeas in a bowl filled with fresh, filtered water. Be sure to cover with at least 3-4 inches of water if not more, because these thirsty little beans will soak up more water than you’d think possible. Set aside for 12 hours. Go to the beach. Go dancing. Go to bed. Forget all about them. I take that back. Do check on them after about six hours to make sure they haven’t guzzled all the water. Top up with more water if necessary.
  2. Pour out the soaking water and put into a pan*, covering with fresh water. Add salt. If you’ve read my post on salt you’ll know to put in way more than you think you should, but trust me and do it. The salt will help keep all the good minerals in your beans. Set over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling turn down to a simmer and cook for about an hour. At this point you should test for doneness. On this occasion I cooked the chickpeas for about an hour and 20 mins and then drained them and let them cool. On another occasion, with a bona fide Israeli chef on hand, he advised over-cooking them to the point where they almost broke down.
  3. This the part where I’ll probably frustrate you because I can’t give you precise measurements for making hummus, but you’re going to have go with your gut. Cooking is really all about experimentation, so have a little fun.
  4. First: make your tahini sauce. Squeeze the lemons, add to a blender. Skin and add the garlic cloves, and then blend until smooth. Strain to remove any fibrous matter. Set aside.
  5. Put the tahini into the blender or food processor and slowly add the half of the lemon/garlic liquid. It should thicken up. Add a splash more and then thin the paste to your desired consistency with iced water. Add a tablespoon at a time. It should be pourable but not too runny. Taste and add kosher salt until it tastes balanced.
  6. Throw this and the drained chickpeas either into a food processor or preferably your Vitamix blender. Your device of choice will impact how much water you need to add because the Vitamix really creams the contents and in my experience needs a bit more water to do the job. Blitz everything for about 10 seconds and take a look to see what’s going on. This is when you can add more water (start with a couple of tablespoons) if it looks like a very thick, chunky consistency. Blitz again – maybe for 20 seconds. Take another look. At this point I added quite a bit more water and had to scrape down the sides of the Vitamix jar. After doing this once or twice it started to really blend and come together. I then let it run for about a minute. If you are using a food processor, once you have a nice creamy consistency, let it run for about two minutes – really! This will put some air into the hummus making for a very light and creamy consistency.
  7. Taste it. You will probably need to add more salt, but at this point, that's up to you. Serve schmeared on a plate, warm with a generous drizzle of olive oil, tomatoes and possibly even grilled fish. It won't last long!

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: chickpea, cooking, garbanzo bean, hummus, organic, recipe, savory, vegan, vitamin

Reader Interactions

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  1. Five Favorite Things | Alice DishesAlice Dishes says:
    September 15, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    […] Vitamix blender remains top of my list. I use it at least twice a day to make everything from hummus, to smoothies to soup. I couldn’t live without it, or maybe I could be life would be […]

    Reply

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