Sparkle Kitchen

Sparkle Kitchen: Hummus – Middle Eastern Style!

All the action in The City of Eight requires serious nutrition to keep up. How about a protein-packed snack to sustain you in your listening? Hummus is a traditional middle-eastern dip made of nutritious chickpeas, tahini, and spices — and it comes together in a flash. Palestinian American recipe developer Heifa Odeh offers a recipe with distinct Middle Eastern roots that make it authentic for our Dory Horde adventure. Pair it with pita or carrot sticks and your appetite will believe you're sitting right next to Sessi Dory as she enjoys this delicious dip!

This recipe (along with many other incredibly tasty recipes) can be found on Heifa's website Fufu's Kitchen. Follow along for the latest recipes on Heifa's Instagram & Facebook.

Homemade hummus is the best!

I have been eating hummus my entire life; literally for as long as I can remember. Hummus is a chickpea-based dish that is sure to win you over. Sunday brunches in my Middle Eastern family were equipped with plates of hummus. Not only is it extremely yummy and healthy but super easy to make. You won’t be buying it anymore after you see this recipe; homemade is always better, folks! Hummus primarily functions as a dip with pita or vegetables such as carrots, which I discovered several years back on a plane traveling to Spain. I was served hummus with carrots and thought, Wow, this really does work great together! It is the perfect light appetizer for your next gathering.

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups chickpeas (I’ve always used the Goya brand)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (the juice of half a lemon)

• 2 tablespoons tahini

• pinch of cumin (optional)

• sumac & chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

Take your 2 cups of chickpeas and drain the liquid into a bowl. (Reserve the liquid; you will be using a small portion of it.) Place these drained chickpeas into the processor or blender. Blend the peas for a few seconds. Then add the salt, olive oil, cumin, lemon juice, and tahini to the chickpeas and blend for another minutes. Slowly, begin adding your reserved chickpea liquid (approximately 2 tablespoons) to slightly loosen the mixture and give a little more flavor. Mix all this till smooth.

I like to garnish my hummus with sumac, parsley, and a homemade jalapeño-based sauce to give it some heat and tang. This is great appetizer or side dish. I’ll be serving it today with some chicken kebab skewers and an apple walnut feta salad! A nutritious Mediterranean plate to say the least.