Monday, March 19, 2012

Yummus Hummus

Tonight was a vegetarian dinner - Mediterranean-style hummus... or as my husband calls it, "Yummus".
Yes, those are cucumber strips instead of circles. Easier to dip into the hummus, or jam into a pita bread. Unless your toddler only will eat cucumber slices, of course. The total time to make this meal is about 25 minutes (if the carrots are already prepped- peeled and chopped and stored in a container in the fridge, soaking in cold water. Great tip from my Mother-in-law: they stay fresh, crunchy, and you can prep them ahead of time for snacking.)
I would love to say I made the Falafel myself, but I took a short-cut and had my buddy, Albert Heijn make it. Just pop these beauties into a pan with a bit of oil, and fry them up for a nice, crunchy exterior.
Inform your two-year-old that these are meatballs and risk wasting one (unless you don't mind it ABC- already been chewed).
The key to this fabulous meal is of course, the Hummus. A recipe I found online long ago here: (and modified slightly)
Yummus Hummus
1 jar of chickpeas (trying to cut down on canned foods because of the BPA), drained but reserve the liquid (360 grams or 16 oz)
1/4 cup (60ml) of reserved chickpea liquid
juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup or 60ml)
2 Tablespoons Tahini paste* (about 30ml)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine (or if you don't like raw garlic, roast it first)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more for garnish)

Blend everything in a food processor for 3 to 5 minutes, or until creamy. Add more reserved chick-pea liquid if desired, but don't add too much or you'll end up with soup.
To serve, place in a bowl and add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil as a garnish on the top.  Make it look pretty with a carved carrot flower or creatively placed tomatoes. Use cut veggies to dip, or stuff a pita-pocket (also AH supplied! and the par-baked pita pockets bake up nice in only 5 minutes!) with the hummus, falafel, veggies and a drizzle of oil if you like.
* = Tahini is sesame paste. If you don't have it and can't get it, you can use a mortar and pestle to grind up sesame seeds until they are a paste and use that instead. I've done it this way when I was out of tahini and craving hummus. It works okay, but you really have to work to grind up those seeds and it takes a long time.
Yummus!

3 comments:

  1. I have to try this, we are big falafel & hummus fans! When I realized Albert Heijn sold falafel, I almost made myself sick on them, just can't get enough. I can't wait until my next trip to AMS or BRU, there's a snackbar called MAOZ, that sells the best falafel & pitas!

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    1. Awesome, Danica! I'm so happy to hear of another falafel fan. Dina used to eat them, but last night she would have nothing of it! Such a bummer. They are so good!! Thanks for the tip on the snackbar- we will check it out on our next trip.

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  2. Hi Meredith! I love hummus, I make it very often, I even made a batch yesterday. Isn't it one the best dips out there?

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