Impressions of Israel – Recipe

Hummus

Any international travel includes a food-based experience. It seems every
country has at least one food specialty and most have more than one. While I
had heard of hummus my first experience tasting it was in Isreal.

Some foods are claimed as a specialty of more than one country. Hummus is
one such food as it is a basic staple throughout the Middle East. It can be
eaten as part of breakfast, lunch, or dinner or as a snack. Israel and Lebanon
have traded the Guinness World Record for the largest dish of hummus with the
most recent winner being Lebanon in May 2010 with a recipe including eight tons
of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), two tons of tahini, two tons of lemon juice, and
150 pounds of olive oil.

For those unfamiliar with hummus, it is a dip or spread eaten as a side dish
or with pita, vegetables, or bread. It is also eaten as an appetizer.
Considered to be a healthy food due to high levels of dietary fiber, protein,
vitamin B6, manganese, and other nutrients hummus is part of many lifestyle
meal plans.

Before he was my son-in-law, Cedar, worked for a missionary group in Israel
for four years. During that time, he enjoyed a lot of hummus. It has been said
a bachelor who does not like hummus cannot survive in Israel. When he returned
to the United States, he was unable to find a hummus he liked.

Cedar and Jennifer experimented with and tweaked an almost endless list of
hummus recipes to find one he liked.  Below is the final result.

Hummus

Bowl of hummus 1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas)

2 cloves garlic, minced – optional

1/3 c. bean juice

ΒΌ c tahini

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until
smooth and creamy.

Enjoy.

Share your favorite Hummus Recipe.

Posted in Food, Impressions of Israel.