go big or go home

Hello dear readers, it’s been a while.

I hope the summer has been bringing you all great fun.  I’ve spent the majority of the past month or so twiddling my thumbs awaiting my next global adventure…to London!

That’s right, I’ll be taking eating the big apple on the road again…to the other big apple across the pond.  So stay tuned for some good grub and traditional British nosh very, very soon!

Til then, I read this fun article the other day and wanted to share it with you.  Apparently, there is more going on in the Middle East than just violence and anger.

On May 11, 300 Lebanese cooks used 10 tons of chickpeas to make the world’s largest ever platter of hummus, beating record-holder Israel.  The two warring nations now have some healthy competition to occupy themselves with…for once!

The “battle” started when both Lebanon and Israel wanted to stake a claim to hummus as their national dish.  It took them 5 hours, but Lebanon surely did go big – they more than doubled the amount that Israel had made.

Check out the official release here.

Inspired by this friendly contest, I decided to make my own hummus once again.  Here’s my recipe for chipotle hummus…

1 can of chickpeas
1 can of chipotle peppers (mine were marinating in adobo sauce)
1 clove of garlic
Olive oil
Salt to taste

I simply dumped everything into a blender, let the blades rip and watched the pale chickpeas turn into a deep shade of orange, tinted by the adobo sauce I liberally poured in.

And voila!  The smokiness of the peppers was delicious, I highly recommend giving them a try!

the easiest hummus ever (and pita chips too!)

~Hummus with marinated mushrooms and garlic pita chips~

What you’ll need

• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or 1/8 cup vinegar if you don’t have lemons)
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 3/4 cup of tahini
• salt to taste

What you’ll do

• Toss everything into a blender (plus about 1/3 cup water)
• Blend!

There’s plenty more you can do with the recipe.  Add roasted garlic, throw in some roasted peppers…sprinkle some cumin or some chili pepper…

Now, the pita chips are a bit more involved, but absolutely worth it.

What you’ll need

• 1 pack of regular pita bread
• 1/2 stick butter
• Garlic salt
• Paprika
• Lime juice/lime zest

What you’ll do

• Cut up your pita into triangles (if you’re in a rush, just tear the pita open into two round pieces, to be broken up after it’s baked) and place on a baking sheet

• Heat the butter and spices/lemon juice in a pan over low heat

• When the butter mixture has melted, use a brush to coat each piece of pita

• Stick the pita in an oven preheated to 400F
• After 3 minutes, flip each piece over an coat with more butter (now you see why it’s better to leave them whole!)
• Bake for another 3-5 minutes then let cool/crisp

Drizzle some olive oil over your hummus and serve with your marinated mushrooms and delectable pita chips!

*If the taste of butter is slightly overwhelming for the pita chips, you can replace it for oil (no need to heat it up).  Just remember to add lots of seasoning so you get that kick in the chips!