Healthy Hearty Hommus

Hommus is a delicious dip served in many Middle Eastern countries, but it is also a healthy vegetarian dish with enough flavor and protein to be served as a main course. Many variations are made, but in this recipe I stay very close to the classic style. Most recipes you will see use canned garbanzo beans(chick peas). This is fine, but the canned beans lack the naturally nutty flavor which is characteristic of the authentic version. Also, using the dry beans gives the dip a much richer texture. For this reason I make the recipe with toasted garbanzo beans. It is not much effort, and I think you will agree that the flavor is much more robust than other recipes.

A popular way to serve this dish is part of a mazza snack tray that includes hommus, baba ghanouj, labna, cucumber dip, and bakdooniseya. Put out some fresh bread and vegetables and you have enough delicious healthy snacks for a cocktail party or a football game. If you want to parley this into a vegetarian buffet dinner, just add fava beans and falafel.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry garbanzo beans (chick peas)
• 1 head of garlic
• 4 tablespoons tahini
• 3 juicy limes
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional, add more if you like it spicy

Directions:

1. wash garbanzo beans, soak in luke warm water for 24 hours or until soft
2. drain the garbanzos and lay on a cookie sheet, lightly salt
3. Cover the cookie sheet with foil or another cookie sheet and bake at 350^o F for 30-40 minutes. You have to cover it because the garbanzos tend to pop and fly around your oven.
4. Place the beans in a food processor. Add 1/2 cup of water and pulverize until it reaches the texture of coarse peanut butter.
5. Add parsley and peeled garlic. Pulverize until smooth.
6. Add tahini, olive oil, and squeeze in lime juice.
7. Pulverize until smooth.
8. Serve with pita bread, cut vegetables and olives.

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