Lebanese style hummus

I LOVE hummus. With an Arabic father, and having been brought up on it, it would be hard not to. And these days you can get hummus everywhere. But here’s the thing… not all hummus is created equal, and if you’ve only ever tasted shop bought varieties, and haven’t tried the real thing, you are missing out!  Full of fibre, healthy fat, immune boosting garlic and alkalizing lemons, it's a brilliant food to make and keep in the fridge. 
​There are so many varieties of hummus, some made with garlic, some without, some with added spices, others not. But in my humble opinion, the ‘hummus de la hummus’ is the Lebanese version.

Call me biased but try it first before you decide. The reason that I love this version is because it is so creamy and the flavours are so simple.  The creaminess comes from the chickpeas – once cooked you can easily remove the skins which makes the finished hummus much smoother.

Still need convincing about the amazing benefits of hummus? Read this post by Huffington Post for more convincing reasons...

I made this version for my Super Health group last week and they absolutely loved it, so I thought I’d share it.

Ingredients

Method

• 1 cup of dried chickpeas (or 1 and ½ cartons of cooked chick peas)
• 4 tbsp. tahini paste
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 2 limes
• 1 lemon
• ½ tea spoon rock salt (preferably pink Himalayan)
• 2 tbsp. plain Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Tsp sumac or paprika 

1. If using dried chick peas, soak them overnight in plenty of water (at least double the volume, if not more, as they will swell).
2. The following day rinse the soaked chick peas and cook on the stove for 1 and ½ hours in plenty of water. Once cooked, run them under cold water to cool. Transfer to a sieve or colander and taking handfuls at a time, rub the chick peas together in your hands to loosen the skins. When finished, put them to one side.  (If using canned or carton chick peas, skip steps 1 and 2 and go straight to 3).
3. In a food blender, add the tahini paste, garlic and lemon/lime juice and pulse for a few seconds. Then add the chick peas, salt and yoghurt and turn on to full power and blend until completely smooth and creamy.
4. Place in a serving dish, drizzle the olive oil over the top and sprinkle the sumac/paprika over the top.