Monday, August 24, 2009

The Quest for the Perfect Hummus

Welcome to our blog! After much procrastination, and numerous photos now deemed useless and outdated, we have decided that this is it - time to launch this blog and start sharing our food creations/disasters/works of fine art.

Tangentialist - is it a word? No, of course not. But Greg one time used it to describe us, two people who cannot hold a simple conversation without getting distracted and going on tangents. Our food has come to reflect this lovely aspect of our personalities, as well. We would love to say that we are vegan, but our Midwestern roots have prevented us from doing so. So while many of the recipes we [hope to] share will be vegan, we do occasionally go on tangents (also interpreted as strong cravings for Wisconsin cheese) and make lactose-filled meals that end up giving Tamar a huge stomach ache.

As the first posting to our blog, I (Tamar) thought I would share a recipe for one of my greatest new loves - Black Olive Hummus. I am on a constant quest to make the perfect hummus, and every time I go back to visit Israel, I am reminded of how far I am from reaching that perfection. Needless to say, this combination of my favorite smear with my favorite snack - because, yes, a can of olives is the best snack - made a quite delicious combination.

Black Olive Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained - but reserve half the liquid
1/2 can pitted black olives
1/4 cup tahini paste
salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a little za'atar if you're lucky enough to have it

Directions: Pretty simple - put it all in a food processor and use your eyes and taste buds to tell you when it's ready! If it's not as creamy as you would like, olive oil is key. The olives may add a good amount of saltiness, so make sure to add the salt last.

Za'atar is commonly use in the Mideast. I'm sure there are recipes on the web that list the correct combination of spices, but because I am a Za'atar snob, I prefer to buy the brands imported from the Middle East. I found a great Lebanese Za'atar in Whole Foods in NYC.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers