Honey and Cinnamon | A foodie's guide to eating well and living even better!: hummus

How quickly time passes amazes me everyday. In one minute I am flying, sleep deprived, to Paris Airport of Charles de Gaulle, and the next minute I am packing my things to fly back to Zurich. Last weekend was spent walking up and down Rue de Rivoli, taking a bite at rue Lucien Sampaix next to the Place de la Republique and enjoying one pastry after the other. I was in Paris, dear friends, where each time I go gets even better than the previous.

I will stop rambling about the amazing time I had in Paris, as I intend to do it in another special post just about this city. Back to the cooking, I love that Spring makes its vibrant appearance again this year. Amazing weather, colours everywhere, strawberries will come around late April to May (the fresh ones) and in two week I will fly back to Greece for Easter. Before that, I plan to make some Easter recipes for you. I know I haven't been very active lately, but as an adult with responsibilities and studies, I have to study and be responsible.

My boyfriend got us a bread maker two days ago. A BREAD MAKER! All you bread lovers I know you get me. I mean, I love bread and even more I love it when it's fresh and warm and crispy. Late at night, we decided to make our first bread with whatever we had in our kitchen pantry and voilà! A delicious and small loaf of bread that took three hours to make, was finally waiting for us to eat and savour.

The idea for purchasing a bread maker came to us, when a good friend and head chef invited us for dinner with his wife and we enjoyed a lot of Turkish inspired food. With the food there was this amazing loaf of bread served on the table and we had to ask where it was coming from... The answer was, a bread maker. If you know me a little, you know I love homemade food and healthy that food even better. So, the idea to have a loaf of bread waiting for you without having to do the extra kneading it requires, sounded perfect to me. Don't get me wrong. The process of kneading and waiting for the bread to rise can be quite cathartic. But, whenever time is of essence, a bread maker can help.

There was no better way to celebrate this, but to make a recipe with the remaining bread slices. And there was some homemade hummus calling me from the fridge that I most certainly, HAD to use. This is another way of letting you know, it was fridge clearance day! But who cares, when there is good food and good matching of food? The most important ingredient for this recipe I think is good hummus, so I left an easy recipe from the blog archive further down for you to make if you feel adventurous.

Hummus tartines with Greek feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and walntus

ingredients

2 slices of bread of choice
1/2 cup of homemade or store-bought hummus
3 to 4 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup Greek feta cheese crumbles
a handful of crushed walnuts
olive oil
sea salt
oregano (optional)

how do I make it?

1.Toast your slices of bread in a toaster as wanted. Cut your cherry tomatoes in small slices.
2.Spead a generous amount of hummus on each slice.
3.Start adding your toppings. First, add the slices of cherry tomatoes. Continue by topping the feta crumbles and walnuts.
4.Splash some sea salt as wanted and some olive oil. If you feel adventurous, add some oregano on top.
5.Enjoy your tartines with company or by your self.

I am the type of person who procrastinates, a lot! It begins with little things like cleaning my room to bigger ones, which are too embaracing to share. This happened with a few things I want to try in the kitchen. There are so many... but I never get around doing them because either life gets in the way (it's summer right now, so you get the point) or I am watching Scandal and can't be bothered with doing anything else. So, I have always heard of people eating hummus and how chickpeas are full of protein and it's actually really good for you. I even tasted it a while ago when I was out eating with a friend and we had some falafel and hummus together. Oh dear Lord that was fun!

Είμαι το είδος του ανθρώπου που χρονοτριβεί, πολύ! Ξεκινάω με μικρά πράγματα, όπως τον καθαρισμό του δωματίου μου μέχρι μεγαλύτερα, τα οποία είναι πάρα πολύ ντροπιαστικά για να μοιραστώ. Αυτό συνέβη με μερικά πράγματα που θέλω να δοκιμάσω στην κουζίνα. Υπάρχουν τόσα πολλά ... αλλά εγώ δεν καταφέρνω ποτέ να τα κάνω είτε επειδή η καθημερινή ζωή μπαίνει στέκεται εμπόδιο (το καλοκαίρι είναι εδώ, οπότε καταλαβαίνετε) ή βλέπω τη σειρά Scandal και δεν μπορώ να βρω το κουράγιο να κάνω οτιδήποτε άλλο. Έτσι, είχα ακούσει για αρκετούς φίλους να τρώνε χούμους και ότι τα ρεβίθια είναι γεμάτα από πρωτεΐνες και είναι πραγματικά πολύ καλή τροφή. Είχα μάλιστα δοκιμάσει πριν από λίγο καιρό, όταν ήμουν έξω για φαγητό με μια φίλη και είχαμε φάει λίγα φαλάφελ και χούμους μαζί. Ω Θεέ μου ήταν φανταστικά!

It turns out homemade hummus is so easy to make. You can use fresh chickpeas that you boil yourself or canned ones (after you drain them). Tahini sauce goes so well with the creamy chickpeas and the garlic and lemon juice lift it up. After you've made it I am sure you will start eating it in numerous ways. With bread, vegetable sticks, a spoon... It tastes so good I wouldn't judge you! Plus it's a healthy food to snack on in moderation. You could also use it in some sauce for salad. It would be perfect for that.

Όπως αποδείχτηκε το χειροποίητο χούμους είναι τόσο εύκολο να το φτιάξετε. Μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε φρέσκα ρεβίθια που θα βράσετε οι ίδιοι ή ρεβίθια από κονσέρβα (αφού τα σουρώσετε). Το ταχίνι ταιριάζει τόσο πολύ με τα κρεμώδη ρεβίθια και το σκόρδο με το λεμόνι το απογειώνουν. Αφού το φτιάξετε είμαι σίγουρη πως θα ξεκινήσετε να το τρώτε με πολλούς τρόπους. Με ψωμί, με στικς λαχανικών, με κουτάλι... Έχει τόσο υπέροχη γεύση που δεν θα σας έκρινα! Επιπλέον, είναι υγιεινή επιλογή για σνακ με μέτρο όμως. Μπορείτε ακόμα να το χρησιμοποιήσετε σε σος για σαλάτα. Θα ήταν τέλειο.

Homemade hummus

ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas (boiled or canned)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons tahini
juice from 1 lemon
1 small garlic clove smashed
salt, pepper

how do I make it?

1. Put all of your ingredients in a food processor. Start mixing until a cream starts forming. Using a spoon scrape the sides of the processor if needed. Continue mixing for almost 2 minutes until everything is processed and a light creamy paste is created. Taste for salt and pepper and add some if needed.

Xειροποίητο χούμους

υλικά

2 κούπες μαγειρεμένα ρεβίθια (βρασμένα ή κονσέρβας)
3 κουταλιές ελαιόλαδο
3 κουταλιές ταχίνι
χυμός από ένα λεμόνι
1 μικρή σκελίδα σκόρδο λιωμένη
αλάτι, πιπέρι

πώς θα το φτιάξω;

1. Βάλτε όλα τα υλικά σε ένα μπλέντερ. Ξεκινήστε να πολτοποιήτε μέχρι να σχηματιστεί μια κρέμα. Χρησιμοποιώντας ένα κουτάλι ανακατέψτε ότι υπάρχει στα πλαινά του μίξερ εάν δεν έχει ανακατευτεί. Συνεχίστε την πολτοποίηση για περίπου 2 λεπτά μέχρι όλα τα υλικά να έχουν πολτοποιηθεί και μια κρεμώδης πάστα να έχει δημιουργηθεί. Γευτείτε για αλάτι και πιπέρι και προσθέστε λίγο εάν χρειάζεται.