We would like to celebrate our local treasure, Zahav, an Isreali restaurant in Philly who just won the James Beard award for Best Restaurant in the country. You read that right, the BEST in the entire darn country! Zahav is known for their inventive dishes – so in honor of their prestigious award, let’s whip up a batch of hummus.
A few years back, we shared an almost life-changing recipe for a Zahav’s hummus. You cannot beat their smooth, ultra-creamy hummus that helped make them famous – we can thank them for creating a dish that is a totally approachable, enjoy-at-home staple. Their recipe is so magical due to the copious amounts of tahini and a cooking method that involves boiling the chickpeas in water and a baking soda bath that breaks down the skins of the chickpeas.
Zahav’s original recipe uses dried chickpeas, which require overnight soaking and some serious forward planning before cooking. Over the years, Kyle has modified the recipe so that canned chickpeas can be used. This way a batch of hummus can be whipped up at a moment’s notice.
Michael Solomonov’s new cookbook, Isreali Soul, has the same idea for streamlining Zahav’s hummus – making a more efficient recipe for a more spur-of-the-moment task. Solomonov titled his recipe “5 Minute Hummus” and it used all the great pillars of the original recipe (lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and ALL the tahini), but he swaps in canned chickpeas so everything can be popped in the food processor and put together quickly.
Kyle still used the method of boiling the chickpeas in the baking soda bath, but instead of the 60 minutes required for the dried chickpeas, this method only took 10 minutes. This version may not be quite as streamlined as Solomonov’s new recipe – we will call this one a “15 Minute Hummus“. Boiling the chickpeas really breaks down their structure, allowing them to be pureed into the creamiest hummus that ever came out of a home kitchen.
This canned chickpea boiling method came from Kyle’s go-round at his dessert hummus creation, and, really, he has never looked back.
Michael Solomonov uses his hummus not only as a dip for pita bread, but as a canvas for many other delicious toppings, turning hummus into a meal in itself. Isreali Soul contains many mouth watering ideas for hummus toppings, but the tahini chicken salad was the recipe that really caught Kyle’s eye.
Swapping the nutty tahini in place of the traditional mayo was a simple alteration that really took the chicken salad to the next level. Solomonov’s recipe suggests you garnish the dish with a hard-boiled egg and some crispy, fried chicken skin, but for once, Kyle kept it simple and served the tahini chicken salad over a schmear of the hummus.
SIDE NOTE: Zahav’s Philadelphia sister restaurant, a hummusiya called Dizengoff, occasionally features a fried chicken skin hummus. This dish alone is worth the trip into Center City. This is a must add to your foodie-to-do list.
This dish is so versatile – just serve with some carrots and celery sticks and you have yourself a gluten-free lunch. Serve it as an innovative appetizer at your next get together – it will surely be the highlight of the event. You can also just sneak into the fridge and dive into the leftovers for a great snack. Whatever way you look at it, know matter how you decide to serve it – this hummus is the absolute richest, creamiest hummus you can make at home. You will seriously never view store bought hummus the same way again!
Adapted from Israeli Soul.
- For the Hummus:
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 (8 ounce) jar tahini
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ to ¾ cup ice water
- For the Tahini Chicken Salad:
- ¼ cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Juice from ½ lemon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh tarragon and parsley, minced
- ¼ cup minced celery
- 8 ounces cooked chicken breast (from about 1 large or 2 medium pieces), shredded
- To serve:
- Olive oil, cayenne pepper, minced parsley
- Pita bread or celery stalks
- For the Hummus:
- Place the chickpeas and baking soda in a medium saucepan. Cover the chickpeas with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer mixture for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the chickpeas, and rinse them well under cold running water.
- While the chickpeas cook, combine the garlic and lemon juice in a food processor, and let them rest for 10 minutes to mellow the flavor of the garlic. Add the tahini, salt and cumin, and process the mixture until it reaches the consistency of peanut butter, about 1 minute.
- With the motor running, stream in the ice water, a little bit at a time, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the chickpeas to the tahini mixture and process for about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the chickpeas are completely blended and the hummus is smooth and uniform in texture.
- For the Tahini Chicken Salad:
- In a medium bow, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon, salt and herbs until combined. Fold in the celery and chicken breast. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To serve:
- Spread ¼ to ½ cup of hummus on a medium plate. Drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and some fresh parsley. Place a generous scoop of tahini chicken salad over the hummus and serve with pita and celery.
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