Hummus

Greece has a very special place in my heart.

My sweetie and I went there for my 40th birthday, and it was amazing. We spent the bulk of our time on the beaches of Naxos, but we traveled around a bit, too, and we ate some phenomenal food (fodder for future posts), including a lot of hummus.

One of my clients is The Wellness Show, (this weekend!) and at last  year’s show, I met Stasia Koutalianos, whose family owns Basil Olive Oil. Now, some of the best olive oil in the world comes from Greece, and the Koutalianos family grows organic olives on their family estate there, and imports them to Canada.

I was super jealous that Stasia got to go there every year for the harvest, even if it was work.

A couple months back, Stasia and her mom, Helen, published a cookbook called From the Olive Grove, a  collection of their family’s recipes. It has many of my Greek favorites: Ygantes, Greek Salad, Saganaki, Calamari, Tapenade, Taramosalda and, of course Hummus. I asked Stasia if I could share her recipe with you, so here it is (but really, just buy the book, it’s awesome.)

Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1-17 oz can (drained and rinsed)
• 1/3 c tahini (tahini is like peanut butter made with sesame seeds-adds creaminess)
• 4-6 garlic cloves, crushed (I sometimes make this with a head of roasted garlic)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander seed (I sometimes use cumin)

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth.
2. Serve as a dip with raw vegetables, crackers or warmed pita.