Pita and Hummus and Salad, Oh My!

When I woke up this morning, I was in the mood to do some cooking. (In reality it was just me trying to put off the inevitable...homework/massive amounts of reading!) So I began browsing one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, for something delicious to make. When I came across her recipe for hummus, it was a done deal.

I bought some hummus this past week from the grocery store, but it was just not quite right. I made a mental note that I wanted to try to make my own hummus to see if I could get it closer to the real thing...and now I can say that I did!!!

To go along with my hummus, I found a recipe for home made pita bread. And just to top off my Israeli craving I made some Israeli salad too.

Hummus

As I said above, I looked at the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, though i did not follow it exactly, so here’s what I used. It was super easy (would have been even easier if I had a blender) and it turned out delicious!!

Ingredients:

-- 1 can of chickpeas (aka: garbonzo beans)

-- 2 tbsp of Tahini (this is the tall bottle in on the right)

-- 2 garlic cloves (chopped/minced)

-- 1/4 of a fresh lemon squeezed (more or less to taste)

-- 1/2 tsp cumin (more or less to taste)

-- 1/2 tsp cumin (more or less to taste)

-- A pinch of sugar

-- A dash of ground red pepper (more or less to taste)

-- 3-5 tbsp water (depending on consistency desired)

-- 1 tbsp olive oil

Step 1: Blend/food process/grind the whole chickpeas.

**In order to get a smooth consistency you need to use a

blender or food processor. I used my coffee grinder, cause

that’s all I had. If you have a blender/food processor you would combine all ingredients EXCEPT the water and olive oil at this point. Blend until smooth, then add water and oil. Pulse no more than two times and it’s done!

Step 2: In a bowl combine ground chickpeas, tahini, garlic, cumin, salt, lemon juice, sugar and ground red pepper.

Step 3: Add water (more or less to gain the consistency desired) and olive oil.

Step 4: Serve with pita, raw veggies, chips or whatever you please. ENJOY!

Pita Bread

I got this recipe from The Fresh Loaf. It’s a website that is totally devoted to bread, YUM! I’ve never made bread before, so I was not really sure how this was going to turn out...but it was pretty simple and delicious!

Ingredients

-- 3 cups flour

-- 1 packet of active dry yeast (combine with 1/4 cup of warm water to dissolve)

-- 1 tbsp sugar

-- 1 1/2 tsp salt

-- 2 tbsp olive oil

-- 1 cup of water

Step 1: Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix together. Add olive oil and water until you can form dough into a ball.

Step 2: Flour a counter top or cutting board in order to the dough from sticking to the surface when kneading. Knead dough for 10 minutes.

Step 3: After you have kneaded the dough, form into a ball and coat the outside with a light coat of olive oil and place in a bowl to rise. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave to rise for 90 minutes.

Step 4: After about 90 minutes, the dough should have just about doubled in size. Punch the dough to release the air that built up in the dough.

Step 5: Now split dough in to eight equal balls. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit for 20 minutes.

Step 6: While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put your cookie sheet or baking stone into the oven on the middle rack so that it will get hot. This will make sure that the pita bread cooks quickly.

Step 7: After 20 minutes, roll the balls into 1/4 inch thick flat circles. Cook for 3-7 minutes, until your pita has perfectly

puffed.

Step 8: Eat it while it’s warm. There’s nothing like warm fresh pita!

Israeli Salad

This is one of my very favorite foods from Israel. My favorite place to get it is called Al Ha Mi’eim. This is a favorite breakfast spot on beach that overlooks the Mediterranean. They have the best Israeli salad. I’ve been craving it recently and finally have been able to recreate it. This salad super simple and served at almost every meal in Israel. Usually it has tomatoes and cucumbers, though as I am not a tomato lover, I leave them out. You can also put onion and/or bell pepper in to add some new flavors and color. But I kept it simple.

Ingredients

-- 2 cucumbers

-- 3/4 fresh lemon, squeezed

-- 1 tsp olive oil

-- salt (to taste)

Step 1: Chop cucumbers. This is

essential to Israeli salad.

Step 2: Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt

to taste.

Step 3: Serve with anything and enjoy!

The Final Product

Pita and Hummus and Salad, Oh My!

...now to get to that homework...