It’s rare for me to find a hummus that I don’t like and there are a million recipes out there for me to try. However, today’s hummus recipe is my very own, no recipe used, but inspired by a hummus I had when I first visited Costa Rica and found a Lebanese restaurant called Lubnan. This place is decorated in a very Mediterranean style, gives off a great vibe and has terrific food. It’s located on Paseo Colón just a few blocks down from La Sabana on the right hand side. On Thursday nights they have a belly dancing show, which is great to take visitors to before sending them off to the beach or canopy tour for the weekend. However, this post isn’t about Lubnan since the prices don’t fit in very well with cheapfoodhere.com but the restaurant plays a huge role in the backstory on the fabulous hummus we had there.
We were expecting a fairly traditional hummus when we ordered it, but once it came to the table we realized they left the chickpeas whole and added a few extra ingredients. The hummus was served warm, with whole garbanzos, raw onion and tomatoes tossed in just before serving. Based on taste there seemed to be tahini, garlic (a LOT of it), lemon juice and olive oil in there as well, but I’m not sure about the rest. I had never had hummus like this before with the whole bean used and served warm, but it was amazing. It was served with warm pita bread and I remember being so impressed with the hummus that I wrote down what I thought was in it on a cocktail napkin to refer back to later. This hummus is something that has stuck with me until today, two and a half years later when I needed to make lunch and just happened to have a can of chickpeas handy, but the cocktail napkin has long since disappeared. So, I was left with just my memory.
My husband has struggled lately trying to perfect his own ground hummus recipe. He’s tried dried garbanzos, canned, brining them, slow cooking them, and everything but deep frying them. Not to make fun, but there were a few times where he merely soaked the dried garbanzos without actually cooking the beans. Needless to say, the raw hummus was inedible, poor guy. Since then the hummus has slowly improved but he still hasn’t nailed it yet. So, I decided to take back ownership of the household hummus recipe and change it up a bit.
Here’s the recipe, it turned out fantastic and will definitely stay on the docket for future lunch, dinner or party recipes.
Whole Garbanzo Hummus Ingredients
- 1 large can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 fresh Roma tomato, seeded and chopped into small pieces
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp reserved chickpea water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- juice from half a lime
Whole Garbanzo Hummus Directions
- Drain garbanzos, reserving 2 tbsp of liquid, and pour into a small pot.
- Add reserved liquid, tahini, garlic, red pepper flakes, lime juice and olive oil.
- Put on medium heat and stir until well-mixed and hot throughout.
- Remove from heat.
- Add lemon juice, chopped onion, tomato and salt and mix well.
- Serve immediately with warm pita slices.
This is my new favorite recipe. Thanks for posting. It’s fabulous!
I have to admit… I made this recipe without reading through the directions and assumed it was a cold dish, so I didn’t cook anything. I ate it for three days straight and loved every single bite of it. Just yesterday I realized that it was originally intended as a warm dish. I have to say that the cold, uncooked version is fantastic! I am looking forward to making the warm dish soon. In the meantime, I’d like to tell all of your followers that if they wish to try it as a salad or cold side dish that it absolutely rocks! For those who aren’t huge fans of raw garlic and/or onions, the quantities you list may be cut in half. Again, thanks for posting this recipe.