This little round legume has many different names and is a very versatile source of protein. Garbanzos can be cooked and eaten cold in salads, hot in a variety of different dishes, roasted as a snack and even ground into flour. Garbanzos are used in just about every culture in the world. They have been cultivated since around 3000 BC, starting in Egypt and moving throughout the Middle East, Greece and the Roman Empire. Around the 16th century they spread to Spain and Portugal.
I asked my friend Saad Hafez, who is a nematologist and professor with the University
of Idaho and Egyptian, for his very tasty hummus recipe. Saad informed me that the word hummus is Arabic for garbanzo. You learn something new every day!
Saad is a wonderful cook and uses all varieties of dried beans daily. In Egypt and the Middle East meat is not something that is eaten regularly, however beans are! During Lent Saad eats a vegan diet and he says that beans are his main source of protein for that time. Saad uses the same cooking methods that I do, we don’t tend to measure ingredients, just mix things together till the taste is what you want. He gave me the basic recipe for the hummus, but not with ratios. I made the dish and my husband said “It’s good, but not as good as Saad’s.” So I called his daughter Krista, another wonderful cook, and she and I came up with a basic recipe with measurements. Saad doesn’t put lemon juice in his recipe, but his wife puts it in hers. Krista said every Middle Eastern country makes hummus a little differently. It’s all in what appeals to your taste. If you like tahini, put in a little more, if you like more garlic then by all means add as many cloves as you like! Same with red pepper and cumin. This is one of those dishes that you can make entirely your own.
Hummus
8 servings
1 2/3 cups cooked garbanzos
1/2 cup tahini (thinned with a little water)
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
salt
red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 lemon juiced
Put it all in a food processor and blend. Add more olive oil if it needs more liquid.
Calories 230 Total Fat 16.1g Saturated Fat 2.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 5.9g Monounsaturated Fat 7.2g Sodium 183 mg Total Carbohydrates 17.8 g Fiber 4.5 g Protein 6.5 g
The traditional way to serve it is to drizzle olive oil on top and add paprika for
decoration. You can use cut up carrots, celery or pita chips if you serve the hummus as a dip.
For a tasty snack spread hummus on a tortilla and roll up. I added avocado slices to the hummus and it was delightful!
