Hummus
Slow-cooked chickpeas and creamy tahini make this garlicky hummus extra smooth.Ridiculously nutritious and vice-grip versatile, chickpeas are the most widely consumed legume in the world. Packed with protein, plus zinc and iron, chickpeas provide a very good plant-based replacement for meat, especially in that ubiquitous Near and Middle Eastern dip called hummus. I recommend topping with olive oil and sumac, a Mediterranean spice (not the same plant as American poison sumac) that tastes kind of like a cross between lemon juice and paprika. This recipe first appeared in Season 14 of Good Eats.
ACTIVE TIME: 20 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 4 hours 20 minutes
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Software
Slow Cooker Chickpeas
- 7 cups water
- 1 pound dry chickpeas, sorted and rinsed
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Hummus
- 1 pound Slow Cooker Chickpeas
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/3 cup tahini, stirred well
- 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for service
- Powdered sumac and/or smoked paprika, to taste, optional
Specialized Hardware
- 2 1/2-quart slow cooker
- Food processor
Procedure
Slow cooker Chickpeas
- Place the water, chickpeas, and baking soda in a 2 1/2-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook until tender, on high heat for 4 hours or on low heat for 8 to 9 hours. Drain and set aside.
Hummus
- Place the chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor along with the garlic, salt and cumin. Process for 20 to 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the tahini and process for another 15 seconds.
- Add the lemon juice and 1/4 cup of the reserved bean liquid and process for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and process another 20 seconds or until smooth.
- To serve, transfer the hummus to a bowl and drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with sumac or smoked paprika if desired.