Doctors on TV Love Healthy Food Alternatives: The Hummus Challenge Goes International
The Middle Eastern countries are known for many unique and healthy foods like Hummus and Baba Ganoush. Israel and Lebanon have both claimed Hummus as their own and they recently went head-to-head in a contest to demonstrate their respective Hummus levels of mastery.
Lebanon is now the victor in this most recent Hummus Challenge, having displaced Israel who previously held the title. The chefs from Lebanon’s Team made more than ten metric tons of Hummus to win the title. That’s a lot of garbanzo beans… LOL
23,042 pounds of Hummus whipped up by 300 Lebanese chefs set the new World Record. Lebanon would like to lay claim to Hummus as a national dish, so they went to this great length to stake that claim. Fortunately, both Israel and Lebanon have shared this healthy dish with the world. It is made from garbanzo beans which are also known as chickpeas. The Lebanese chefs combined garbanzos, tahini, lemon juice, and olive oil to make their Hummus. Generally, garlic is always added to the recipe and we usually top it off with chopped parsley. We dip our vegetables and our gourmet potato chips into Hummus.
We also use it as a spread for sandwiches and set it out with the guacamole dip along with tortilla chips, so people have a choice. We enjoy our Hummus with artisan breads and whole grain crackers, too. The sesame seeds that make tahini, the chickpeas that are made into a paste, the olive oil, the lemon juice freshly squeezed, and the garlic cloves that are mashed into a paste are blended together to make a complete protein dish that will not only be the talk of the town, but the heritage of several countries when shared with the world.
These days you can go into your Whole Foods Market and select from Hummus plain, or with other herbs and spices to jazz it up. We always had to make it from scratch and offered it daily in our Natural Foods restaurant, The Origin Trail. We would feature an ethnic meal every day and when it was Middle Eastern day, we prepared Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Tabbouleh, Couscous, Falafel Balls, and topped off these dishes with cucumber, tomato, onion, and parsley in a Pita. The Pitas with Falafel Balls were so well-received that we ended up putting them on our regular menu.
Our doctors know that Hummus is a healthy dish and supplies the body with protein, copper, manganese, fiber, phosphorous, iron, healthy oils, and other nutrients that nourish the human body. Remember, food is your best medicine and is the basis of a healthy Lifestyle.
You can jazz up your Hummus with spices like cumin, paprika and cayenne. If you have the time to make roasted red bell peppers, then blending them into your Hummus is fabulous! Some people will like the Hummus a little better if you sprinkle some sea salt into the blend, too, depending upon personal preferences.
You can boil your garbanzo beans yourself and you should have them in quantity as part of your Food Storage Plan. However, there are canned organic garbanzo beans that will do in a pinch if time is an issue. Keep some in your pantry and don’t hesitate to use these jewels in salads, stews, soups, curry dishes. They go well with feta cheese and other Greek or Indian or Turkish dishes, too. All in all, garbanzos are the most widely consumed legume in the world with a 7,000 year history.
We would heartily encourage your exploration of Hummus and you can get the garbanzo beans from Whole Foods Markets, natural food stores, or from your local Food Co-op.
