Recipe: Tabbouleh and Hummus (with homemade tahini)

Throughout the course of the usual What should we do for dinner? discussion, Maru suddenly said, “I want some nice, light Mediterranean food.” Sounded good to me, so we picked up the extra ingredients we needed and headed home. High quality Lebanese food is sorely lacking in Puebla (oddly enough since there is a history of Lebanese people living here) and something we both miss about southeast Michigan, but the basic hummus and tabbouleh is so easy that we had no excuse not to do it. In the past, I have followed recipes for both of these simple dishes. I think that if you know what flavors you want and the essential parts of each one, you can definitely wing it, which is what I ended up doing this time. Here is my estimation of what went into a delicious final product. Adjust at your leisure!



Tabbouleh (this fresh salad normally has bulgur wheat to add some texture and protein. I didn´t have any so just skipped it.) VEGAN

• 2 bunches of fresh, flat-leaf parsley, cleaned and chopped (I used about half of the stem finely chopped also. It´s good roughage.)


• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh mint.


• 2-3 diced roma tomatoes.


• 2-3 T freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice (lemon is more traditional, but limes are what I had).


• Salt to taste.


• A dash of extra virgin olive oil.

Toss together the parsley, mint and tomatoes. In a small dish, dissolve the salt in the lime juice, then toss into the salad. Top with just a touch of good extra virgin olive oil. It tastes best if you let it sit for an hour or so.

If you have bulgur wheat, definitely add it (it needs to soak for a while in hot water I think). Also, I prefer my tabbouleh with just a little bit of tomato, while some versions have a lot or even add a little raw onion.

This salad is good by itself as a side or mixed with hummus on some good flatbread. I was at a house once where my friend´s aunt of Lebanese descent actually served the tabbouleh on lettuce leaves instead of bread. Makes a light dish even lighter and perfect for a snack on a hot day.



Hummus VEGAN

• 250 grams (about 1.5 cups or 1 can) cooked garbanzos. If you cook your own from fresh or dried, the final product will be significantly better. If you use canned, be sure to drain off the water and rinse them.


• 1 ½ T tahini
  
  
  
  • I did not have access to store-bought tahini, but man, this sesame paste is too easy to make on your own and way cheaper that way. Just put 3-4 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds into a spice grinder and pulse them until they are ground into a dry paste. Then add a pinch of salt and olive or sesame oil and stir with a fork until it forms a nice thick paste the consistency of molasses. Poof! Tahini!


• 3-4 cloves garlic. I roasted mine on a griddle.


• ¼ of an onion, roasted.


• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil.


• 2-3 T lime or lemon juice (again, lemon is more traditional) or to taste.


• Up to ½ cup of water.


• Salt to taste (it needs a fair amount, probably 1.5 t)

In a blender, food processor or bowl to be used with a stick blender (that´s how I did it), place the garbanzos, tahini, garlic, onion, half of the oil, a couple pinches of salt, and the lime juice. Begin blending, adding just enough water to make the mixture workable. It should look about like lumpy mashed potatoes at first. Add the rest of the oil and continue blending. At this point, add water and blend until the hummus reaches your desired consistency. Some people like it chunky and thick, others smooth and creamy, and others somewhere in the middle. I tend to like smooth and creamy, so I added about half a cup of water in total and thoroughly blended it. As far as salting goes, it helps to dissolve it in the water you add to make sure that the mixture is evenly seasoned. Taste and adjust as needed (maybe you like more lime juice!).


Maru and I thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon repast with a strawberry lassi (fresh or frozen strawberries blended with plain yogurt) and some whole wheat tortillas we had purchased.