Best homemade Hummus

Hummus is a healthy, versatile spread made with chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon.

Ingredients

15.5 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained

¼ cup Greek tahini (roasted sesame paste)

1 large lemon juiced (1/4 cup juice at minimum)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons Greek extra virgin olive oil (additional for serving)

3 tablespoons water

pinch of cumin

Sumac for serving
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves for garnish

• Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients (except water) to the food processor and process for 2 -3 minutes until smooth.
  2. Add water as needed to get to desired consistency. I find that the full 3 tablespoons works perfectly!

 Serve on Greek rusks dusted with sumac.

Serve as a snack on Greek rusks with some carrots.

Hummus can be used on bread as a spread for a sandwich, can be served as a dip with vegetables or crackers, makes a great quick snack on a cracker or, my favorite, on Greek rusks topped with sumac, olive oil and chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

Maria 

 

 

 

 

Filet of Flounder with chimichuri sauce, roasted cauliflower and haricort vert(fancy french word for string beans)

Cut up about 2 cups of cauliflower florets. Toss them with 2 tablespoons of Olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven turning once midway.

Steam two cups(or two handfuls) of haricort vert until just tender, drain and set aside in a covered dish.

Cut up a small onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a cup of parsley and a quarter cup of cilantro and add to your food processor. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and two tablespoons wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Process until pureed.

 

 Set chimuchuri aside.

Roasted Cauliflower

Place your filets in a shallow baking dish where you've put 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Spoon the chimichuri over the filets and smooth it with the back of your spoon. Place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

 Serve the fish alongside the roasted cauliflower and steamed haricort vert. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Maria

Garbanzo Beans over Fresh Mesclun Salad- Bounty from my Garden

I was raised in Cyprus at a time when people grew a lot of their food. My family grew their own olives, oranges, tangerines, lemons, plums, almonds, walnuts, herbs, chickens, my grandma had a donkey and a goat(we never ate the donkey, we rode him and grandma milked the goat). They baked their own breads, made their own halloumi cheese (you haven't lived until you eat freshly made, still warm hallouni cheese.)

They also preserved a lot of their crops. We gathered the olives, loaded them on dad's VW beetle  and took them to the mill for olive oil. Mom made walnut preserves, orange rind preserves, orangeade, lemonade, watermelon rind preserves, cherry preserves. She dried her herbs and kept them in jars for the winter. What can I say? I grew up eating a lot of preserves and olive oil and I love them!

But, I don't live in a Mediterranean climate so I only have a few things growing in my garden. Yet, those formative early years have made me a person who loves to garden and bake.

This week, it's lunch with salad greens from my garden:. I picked them, double washed them, dried them and ate them!

Serves 2
1 can garbanzo(chickpeas)beans drained
1 tablespoon chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups mesclun greens
1 orange  peeled and cut into 8 pieces
4 tablespoons sautéed wild mushrooms
4 anchovy fillets

Place the garbanzo beans in a bowl. Add the onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix.
Divide the mesclun greens between two plates.
Top with half each garbanzo mixture. To that add half each of the sautéed mushrooms. Divide orange pieces between the two plates. Place two anchovies on each plate on top.
Grind some fresh pepper and sea salt, drizzle with good Greek extra virgin olive oil (I use Kalamata from Trader Joe's) and serve with some hearty multigrain bread.

 

Kali Orexi as they say in Greece and Cyprus!
Enjoy!
Maria