Hummus

Wherever you travel in the Mediterranean, from Lebanon, to Israel, to Turkey and beyond, Hummus seems to be a mainstay as a side dish and/or appetizer. For good reason … it’s gooooooooood! And so easy to make, as well. So, it only seems fitting that we wrap up our weeklong epicurean excursion to the Middle East with this Caveman’s version of a classic regional dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 16 Ounce Can of Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
3 Garlic Cloves
3 Tbsp Tahini Paste
3 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Garbanzo Bean Juice
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Fresh Chopped Italian Leaf Parsley

RECIPE

Drain garbanzo beans, reserving 1/4 cup of the canning juice.

Squeeze and strain the juice from a fresh lemon until you have 3 tablespoons worth. About half a lemon usually does the trick.
HINT: Again, I can’t stress enough how using Meyer’s Lemons in these recipes makes such a huge difference. Use them if at all possible.

Crush Garlic.

Place all ingredients, EXCEPT PARSLEY, into food processor.

Process on high setting for about 2-3 minutes, until mixture is creamy and semi-smooth.
HINT #2: This will never get as smooth as the Tahina Sauce. So, don’t over process it trying to get it to that consistency. A very slight grainy appearance is expected.

To properly plate when done, with a rubber spatula scoop out enough to more than cover the area of the serving plate. Smooth out the Hummus, kind of making a wheel shape out of the hummus. Be sure to leave a little round reservoir in the middle of the “wheel”.

Pour a little Olive Oil into the center reservoir. Then, dust dish with Paprika.

Finally, top hummus with finely chopped parsley and serve along side your favorite Mediterranean dish. Pictured here with Falafel, Pita Bread, Tahina Sauce, Caveraeli Salad, and Harif.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our culinary journey over the past week. We’ll be adding more recipes to this regional list in the coming weeks, including my promised Falafel recipe … I still need to try one more tweek before it is ready for public consumption.

Prep Time = 15 Minutes
Cooking Time = n/a
Serves 4-6

©2010 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.