Hummus, Tabouli, and Baba Ganoush

Never buy hummus. It's terribly overpriced and extremely easy to make yourself. That is, if you have a food processor. You can do it in a blender or by hand as well but it's a considerably larger pain to do so(but still much more cost effective). Tabouli is also quite easy to make, though it does take some more ingredients you may not have on hand and a bit more time. Still, it's a much better choice than buying it greatly overpriced. Baba Ganoush is much more work compared to the other two but still worth doing yourself(especially for us corn-allergics who dislike buying such things).

Hummus

Can of Garbanzo Beans(15 or 19 ounces)
Fresh Juice of 1 Large Lemon
3 Tablespoon of Tahini(sesame seed paste, often found with Indian or Southeast Asian foods in the store)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil(I always use more than this to get the proper consistency. The more you put in, the smoother it will get, to a point. Too much and you'll have some freakish oily soup.)
4-5 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, Minced
A Pinch of Sea Salt.

You can put just about anything you want in hummus to be honest, here are a few other recommendations: green olives, marinated artichokes, pine nuts, or parsley.

Put everything in the food processor together and blend until smooth. It should hold quite a long time in the fridge if you use fresh garlic, as it is an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial all in one.

Tabouli

1 cup Bulgar Wheat, presoaked
1.5 cups Parsley, finely minced
2 tablespoons Mint, finely chopped
1.5 Green onions, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt, extra fine
1 Medium tomato, seeded and diced(I recommend something fleshy, like a Roma)
1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 medium cucumber, or 1 small one, peeled and sliced
1/2 head Romaine lettuce
1.5 tablespoons olive oil

Soak the Bulgar in 2 cups of water for one hour. After one hour, drain(it won't soak all the water up, don't worry). Mix all the ingredients excluding the lemon juice, oil, cucumber, and romaine lettuce leaves. Add the lemon juice, toss, and chill for one hour. Mix in the olive oil by tossing and serve upon the lettuce leaves arranged in a spoke fashion. Sprinkle on the cucumber on the top. Serves 3-4. It will last a few days in the fridge.
Note: I swiped this from Bob's Red Mill, though their product is by no means necessary. I haven't made my own in quite a while so I cannot verify the safety of that brand's product either.

Baba Ganoush
Adapted from David Lebovitz

3 medium-sized eggplants
1/2 cup tahini (roasted sesame paste)
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
a pinch or two of cummin
1 tablespoon olive oil
a half bunch picked flat-leaf parsley or cilantro leaves

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler. If not, skip to the next step.)
- Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.
- Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Chill for a few hours before serving. Serve with crackers, veggies or toasted pita chips.

Storage: Baba Ganoush can be made and refrigerated for up to five days prior to serving.

Warming Chickpea Soup

I was looking at the variety of dried beans and grains sold at the Whole Foods the other day and one of them had a recipe for "Velvety Chickpea Soup", which looked nice. However, being the thrifty man I am, I decided to buy the chickpeas in bulk just from whole foods as it as about half the price. But since I'm also a somewhat absent-minded man, I did not write down the recipe. I had some dried chickpeas though and a yearning for some chickpea soup now though; so, I'd be damned if I wasn't getting some soup. So I winged it with a variety of spices and it turned out very well in my opinion. (Sorry for the lame name though, I'm not terribly creative at the moment.)

Warming Chickpea Soup

1.5 cups dried chickpeas
5 cups water

6-8 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, cut into crescents
1 inch cube of ginger, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1.5 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne
1/2 teaspoons spanish paprika
Juice of 1/2 large lemon

A bunch of sweet carrots, with their greens.

The night before, put the chickpeas in a pot with the water, cover, and let sit at least eight hours. They should just about double in size. Drain and put into a pot again with water with a teaspoon of baking soda added and let them sit for a half hour. That step is optional but helps clean them. Drain and rinse afterwards.

Put the onion in a large soup pot with the oil and fry until soft and getting translucent. Add in the coriander, garam masala, cumin, garlic, and ginger and fry until fragrant(around 30-60 seconds). Add in the vegetable broth and the chickpeas and let them cook for three hours, stirring occasionally. Once the chickpeas are soft, stir in the cayenne, paprika, and lemon juice. Put this mixture in the food processor and puree until it is smooth. Cook for another ten minutes and serve hot.

Shred the carrots and add a generous portion of them as a garnish along with some of their chopped greens.

Notes about the soup are:
1) This is very hearty and filling, so don't let it deceive you when it comes to the amount to dish out for a meal.
2) You can basically change any amounts of the spices in the recipe, since I winged just about everything.
3) I just had carrots sitting around but you could garnish it with whatever you want. I think the carrots add a nice crunch and sweetness to the dish.
4) I think if you added in some olive oil(a few tablespoons) into the soup when you add the cayenne it would help make the soup richer. It's not uncommon to do so with chickpea soup so it's probably a good idea.

Mujadara

I seem to have fallen in love with lentils, in pretty much any form I can get them. Which is nice because it gives me a good source of protein and iron as well as a fair amount of uncomplicated meals. This is one of those meals; however, it does take a long time to do because you need to caramelize onions. Mujadara is basically rice, lentils, caramelized onions, and a bit of spices all mixed together and eaten hot. So if you don't like caramelized onions, move on, it's basically what the entire dish tastes like. This dish is of lebanese origin and from what I've been told usually only served at more legitimate ethnic lebanese restaurants; it's not as popular as something like falafel(it is just as tasty though). Here's the recipe:

Mujadara

4 tablespoons oil
3 pounds white onions

1.5 cups green or brown lentils(red or white will fall apart, indigo will be too stiff)
2 cups long grain brown or wild rice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea Salt & Pepper
Fresh parsley leaves(optional)

Slice the onions into moderately thin rings and add to a deep pan with the oil and cook on medium-low heat until the onions are very soft, around 45 minutes. Don't put a lid on this like I did, it will just make the next step take much longer. Once the onions are sufficiently soft, raise the heat to medium high and cook until they are a deep brown and have sweetened. Mix half of these with the cooked rice, lentils, and spices*. Add the other half of the onions on the top of the dish and garnish with the parsley leaves. Serves four.

*Cook the rice plain in the ordinary fashion. Cook the lentils so they are still somewhat firm but not underdone. If you let them start to break apart it will still taste fine but you'll lose the proper texture and aesthetic appeal. I recommend a cup and half of water per cup of lentils and to cook them for around 30-45 minutes.

College & Falafel

Jesus, College is slowly killing me with corn. Until I have this constant paranoia about contamination worked out this isn't going to be the best situation. However, I want to get the recipe I've always used for falafel out there because it's just too damn good not to share:

Falafel

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, finely chopped/minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs (check for being corn-free, of course)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1. Mash the garbanzo beans in a large bowl. Stir in the onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley cumin, turmeric, baking powder, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Do not be afraid to use your hands. Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls; you should get 18 to 24*. If the mixture does not hold together, add a little water.
2. *If no deep fryer, skip to step 3* Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Carefully drop the balls into the hot oil, and fry until brown. If you do not have a deep fryer, heat the oil in a heavy deep skillet over medium-high heat. You may need to adjust the heat slightly after the first couple of falafels, and be sure to turn frequently so they brown evenly
3. If you don't have a deep fryer, it will be a bit tricker but shouldn't be terrible assuming your careful. Take a pot and fill it with 1-2 inches of oil and heat this up very hot and drop the falafel in this, probably need to spin it around to ensure uniform coverage. You know it will be of the proper heat when the falafel bubbles like french fries do in oil just with less intensity. Use tongs for this or you will no longer have fingers. A very, very, important note of this is that if your oil starts smoking at any point in this situation, stop using it immediately, turn off the heat, and dispose of later. If an oil goes over its smoke point it becomes carcinogenic amongst other bad things.
   

*Note: I only got around 16 of these, maybe I made them a bit larger than it called for or had a smaller amount of garbanzo beans than I had thought. Also, I substituted ginger for turmeric, as they are the same family and similar in some respects. Tumeric would probably have been better, but it turned out to be excellent nonetheless. It will also be much easier if you just mash the beans by hand rather than by any machine, they lack enough moisture to be pureed nicely(I always use a plastic ice cream scoop because it works in a bowl well).

A delightful picture of my falafel frying in a pan, step three style. I fry them in sunflower oil because it's not only very healthy for an oil but it has a smoke point of around 450˚, so I'm very unlikely go over it's smokepoint on my stovetop.