Tag: spread

Greek/

Tzatziki from Vefa’s Kitchen

A white enamel bowl with a blue trim filled with tzatziki topped with olive oil and a black olive on a fake concrete background.

Sorry hummus but tzatziki is probably my favorite dip of all time. Though I’m not sure if it’s a dip, a sauce or a spread. I’ll drink it by the bucketload either way.

I used to think tzatziki was hard to make until a Greek co-worker told me it was easy. The tricks are not grating but cutting the cucumber and adding olive oil, lots of it.

This recipe hails from Greece The Cookbook, also known as Vefa’s Kitchen (order in the US or UK) and has got you ready to dip in no time, great with pita bread, chips, fish or (mushroom) gyros.

A white enamel bowl with a blue trim filled with tzatziki topped with olive oil and a black olive on a fake concrete background.

Classic Greek tzatziki

Dorothy Porker
A classic recipe for Greek tzatziki from Vefa's Kitchen.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
If you're making Greek yogurt from scratch 6 hrs
Course Appetizer, Dip, Sauce, Side dish, Spread
Cuisine Greek
Servings 2 - 4 people

Equipment

  • Strainer, if making Greek yogurt from scratch
  • Cheese cloth, see above
  • Bowl x2, 1 if you're not making Greek yogurt from scratch

Ingredients
  

  • 3 c - 750 ml Greek-style yogurt or plain, strained in a cheese cloth for 6 hours
  • 1 cucumber peeled and finely chopped
  • 3-4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
  • 1/4 t - 1.5 g salt
  • 3-4 T - 45-60 ml olive oil
  • 3 T - 45 g dill finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • Mix together 3 c - 750 ml Greek-style yogurt with 1 peeled and finely chopped cucumber, 3-4 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 1/4 t - 1.5 g of salt, 3-4 T - 45-60 ml olive oil and 3 T - 45 g of finely chopped dill, cover and leave to cool in the fridge.

Notes

Tzatziki keeps for 2-3 days in a closed container in the fridge. 
Keyword cucumber, dips, greek, sauce, spreads, yogurt

Zoek je dit recept in het Nederlands? Ga dan naar vettesletten.nl voor klassieke Griekse tzatziki.

Vegan/

Lucky Peach’s Miso-amped Hummus

A bowl of miso amped hummus surrounded by its ingredients

After the pumpkin, chocolate and other hummus nightmares of late I understand that hummus with miso sounds very worrying indeed.

Blame Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables

Thankfully the idea to add miso to hummus doesn’t come from me, but from Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables. And the miso in this recipe isn’t a cover-up to disguise the flavor of hummus, but rather a means to enhance it in all it’s hummussy goodness.

A bookshelf filled with cookbooks and a copy of Power Vegetables shown in front.

Gooey fluffy magic hummus tricks

I had words with this recipe the first time I made it. My chickpeas would barely budge when I tried to blend them in my food processor. They were absolute dicks. Thankfully someone told me I should use some of the cooking liquids of the chickpeas to help smooth their transition into hummusy goodness.

Then I found my hummus to be quite… firm and Play-Dough like once it had cooled down. I don’t recall where I read this a few weeks later, but a couple of ice cubes really help turn your hummus into the best gooey fluffy magic ever.

A bowl of miso amped hummus surrounded by its ingredients and some Turkish bread

Varations and what to have miso-amped hummus with

I have updated the recipe below to add instructions on how to make a garlicky hummus dip, or just a chickpea-garlic spread if you want to be proper about calling hummus hummus and other things made with chickpeas and other ingredients something else.

I like to top mine with za’atar or sumac for some extra oomph.

You can eat the dip with bread or however else you like or use it to make:

A bowl of miso amped hummus surrounded by its ingredients

Miso-amped hummus from Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables

Dorothy Porker
This very inauthentic hummus is based on a recipe from Lucky Peach's Power Vegetables, improved over time with tips from internet randos and magazines.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Overnight soak 8 hrs
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Party snack, Snack
Cuisine Middle Eastern, Vegan, Vegetarian

Equipment

  • Large pot, for soaking and cooking
  • Ladle
  • Sieve
  • Small bowl
  • Kitchen towel
  • Food processor
  • Oven, if making garlic and chickpea spread, AND
  • Oven proof dish

Ingredients
  

  • 1 c - 200 gr dried chickpeas soaked overnight, weight is pre-soak
  • 1 t - 5 gr baking soda
  • 1/4 c - 60 ml olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic smashed and peeled
  • 3/4 c - 175 ml chickpea cooking liquid see instructions
  • 1/4 c - 60 ml lemon juice fresh is best
  • 1 t - 5 gr salt
  • pinch ground cumin
  • 1/2 c - 120 ml tahin
  • 1 T - 15 gr miso white is best, but red works too
  • 3 ice cubes

For the chickpea and garlic spread

  • all of the above +
  • 3 heads garlic separated into skin-on cloves
  • olive oil
  • salt

Instructions
 

  • Drain 1 c - 200 gr soaked chickpeas, place them on a kitchen towel and dry them off gently.
  • Move the chickpeas to a large pot, I used the same one I soak them in overnight, with 1 tsp - 5 gr of baking soda and cook on a low heat while stirring vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes or so.
  • Cover the chickpeas until they are submerged in about 1" of cold water and bring to a boil.
  • Leave to simmer until they are soft. This can take 30-60 minutes, depending on the quality and age of your chickpeas. Use a ladle to remove any foam or chickpea skins that come bubbling to the surface. Add water if your chickpeas appear to be drying out, but haven't softened yet.
  • Drain the chickpeas, making sure you hang on to the cooking liquid. You'll need it for the next step.
  • Place the chickpeas, 1/4 c - 60 ml olive oil and 1 clove of garlic into a food processor along with a first scoop of the cooking liquid. Blitz for 2 minutes. Add more of the liquid if your food processor starts to struggle.
  • Finally add 1/4 c - 60 ml of lemon juice, 1 t - 5 gr salt, 1 pinch of cumin, 1/2 c - 270 gr of tahini, 1 T - 15 gr of miso and 3 ice cubes (and the roast garlic if you're making chickpea and garlic spread) and blend again for another 2 minutes until well combined and fluffy. If your food processor is struggling again use a wooden spoon to beat the ingredients together until the last of the ice cubes as dissolved completely.
  • Your hummus is now done. Lucky Peach prefers it warm, but I quite enjoy it cold as well

To make chickpea and garlic spread

  • First, take a moment to resist the urge to call this garlic-hummus. Hummus is made with chickpeas only. Add anything else and it's no longer hummus. We're calling this a spread. S P R E A D.
  • Preheat an oven to 320° F/ 160° C.
  • Spread the individual unpeeled garlic cloves from 3 bulbs of garlic in an even layer in an oven proof dish. Coat evenly in olive oil and salt generously.
  • Roast the garlic cloves until they have gone soft and squishy but are not burned, in my oven this takes about 30-45 minutes.
  • Peel or smoosh the garlic gunk out of its skin.
  • Blitz the roast garlic cloves into the hummus that will no longer be a hummus alongside the other ingredients mentioned in step 7.

Notes

This hummus will keep in the fridge in a closed container for 2 to 3 days. 
Keyword chickpeas, dips, hummus, humus, lucky peach, miso, spreads

Zoek je dit recept in het Nederlands? Ga dan naar VetteSletten.nl voor met miso opgevoerde hummus.