hummus

this past weekend, spring finally arrived. even though the calendar claims spring has been here since march 20th, I couldn’t quite believe it until the first sunshine-flooded 65ºF day. (then because spring is such a tease, of course the next day was grey and rainy and so windy, it looked like everyone on the street was wearing ombre-dyed pants and the sidewalks became a graveyard of mangled umbrellas.)

the other sign of spring has been the sudden burst of spring blooms (and their little pollen bombs), the color-drained winter landscape suddenly awash with verdant green grass and trees thick with pastel flowers. waking up to color (and to sunlight!) truly makes the winter, with its ice-slicked roads and bone-shredding winds, seem like a best-forgotten nightmare.

a while back, I planted some tomato seeds. they sat, patiently incubating in the weak winter sunlight, hiding so long that I had given up hope they would ever appear. then one morning, I woke up to little green sprouts reaching for the early light. even though the temperature has dropped again, the sunlight is stronger and the greenery outside somehow makes 45ºF warmer than it felt in the winter.

today was such a beautiful day, I made some celebratory hummus and was taken aback by the vibrancy of the paprika, the tart tang of the lemon juice in a hummus recipe that I have made many times before and that I swear tasted somehow duller in the winter. here’s to running through meadows and along creeks, to the softness of a spring bud, to the birdcalls like an alarm clock at 4am (yes! I’ve even missed the annoying birds! …we’ll see how long that lasts.) here’s to just being alive and surrounded by life – happy spring!!

makes 6 servings

1 15oz can chickpeas
1/2 cup light tahini paste
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp salt (+ more to taste)
1/2 cup leftover chickpea juice
1 tsp paprika (optional)
olive oil, za’atar, cumin, sesame seeds, etc. for garnish

yotam ottolenghi and sami tamimi. jerusalem: a cookbook. new york: ten speed press, 2012.

1 peel the skins off of the chickpeas. discard skin.
2 in food processor (or a very good blender) process chickpeas until you have a powdery, clumpy paste. with the machine running, add tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. slowly drizzle in leftover chickpea juice and allow to mix for 5 minutes, until you get a smooth and creamy paste.
3 transfer hummus to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for at least 30 minutes. refrigerate until needed.