Israeli Hummus

I plan pot luck lunches at my office when the weather is nice for our roof top deck. We have a table and chairs, grill and stereo. Our weather has been particularly rainy this year so our 1st lunch was last week. Our theme was Mediterranean and our menu was fantastic. We had home made falafels from Sonny, eggplant and pilaf from Randa, Greek salad from Melissa, mini lamb burgers from Majid, yogurt sauce from Elizabeth, fresh fruit from George, drinks from Ivan and Mike and dessert from Taylor and John. I rounded out the meal by ordering Israeli couscous with grilled vegetables from Insalatas from the bosses. I made hummus and I love this recipe. It is from Michael Solomonov out of Food & Wine. I have not been to Israel but he did and it is wonderful. Here's the link to his recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/israeli-hummus-with-paprika-and-whole-chickpeas-cocktails-2009

Israeli Hummus my way

1/2 pound dried chickpeas
1 tablespoon baking soda
8 large garlic cloves, 7 unpeeled, 1 peeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup tahini, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
Whole wheat pita bread, for serving

In small sauce pan, cover the dried chickpeas with 2 inches of water and stir in the baking soda. Soak overnight. Drain the chickpeas and rinse them under cold water.

In a medium saucepan, cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of fresh water. Add the 7 unpeeled garlic cloves and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat until the chickpeas are tender, about 60 minutes. Drain, reserving about 10 tablespoons of the cooking water. Peel the garlic cloves.

In a food processor, puree the chickpeas with 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water, the olive oil and all of the garlic cloves. Add the cumin along with the tahini and lemon juice and process until creamy. Season the hummus with salt and transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with pita bread.

This is the creamiest hummus ever and so much better than store bought. It is worth the extra time to soak the garbanzo beans with baking soda rather than using canned beans. The soak is what makes it so creamy. Hummus is good with cut up veggies and great as a light lunch. I made 2 batches so Mike & Abigail could have some. Good thing I did there was hardly any left.

Enjoy!