Hummus

This is my version of this popular dip. Feel free to adjust the quantities of each of the ingredients to your liking. You can spread the hummus in a shallow bowl and top it with the fava bean salad or the seasoned chickpeas, the parsley tahini and the lemon dressing (recipes below), or you can serve each salad separately on a mezze table. Serve with warm pita bread.

Makes 5 cups

1 pound dry chickpeas

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

1 cup cooking water

1/2 cup lemon juice

8 to 10 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces tahini

Soak the chickpeas in water in a large pot overnight unrefrigerated, or soak for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Drain the water and cover with fresh water an inch above the chickpeas.

Start cooking the chickpeas over high heat. When the water boils, skim the foam. Add baking soda, mix and remove remaining foam. Lower the heat and cook for at least 3 hours over the lowest heat. Stir occasionally.

When the chickpeas are very soft and start to break, add 1 teaspoon salt and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes in the cooking water.

Using a strainer, measure 4 cups of the cooked chickpeas, reserving the cooking water. Put the chickpeas in a food processor. (Reserve the leftover chickpeas for the seasoned chickpeas recipe that follows.)

Add 1 cup of the cooking water, lemon juice, garlic cloves and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to the food processor and puree the chickpeas. Run the food processor for a minute, until the mixture is very smooth (it will be liquidy.)

Add the tahini and run the food processor for another minute. Taste for seasoning -- you might want to add more garlic, lemon juice or salt. When satisfied, continue to run the food processor for another 5 minutes.

Serve the hummus on a plate with parsley tahini, fava bean salad, seasoned chickpeas and lemon dressing.

Lemon Dressing For Hummus

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 serrano, jalapeno or Thai chili pepper, sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

Salt, to taste

Mix all the ingredients. Drizzle on top of the hummus

Seasoned Chickpeas

To the chickpeas left over from making hummus, add salt, cumin, garlic and lemon juice to taste. Mash the chickpeas a little with a fork.

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