It’s only been the last couple of years since I’ve started cooking with white beans (also known as cannellini beans, great northern beans, and habichuelas blancas in Spanish). I’m not sure where it started, but I know that I began making more dishes using them when I lived in Turkiye because they were so widely available.
What I love about them is that they are so soft and smooth and feel light in dishes. Sometimes after eating other beans, I feel heavy or too full, or the texture of the beans seems to be a bit rough, but that’s not the case with white beans; they are so nice in soups and stews and let the meat and other veggies take on the role of giving a rougher texture to your taste buds; this also makes them nice in salads.
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The most fortuitous of all dishes with white beans for me has been in making a hummus out of white beans, rather than the rgw traditional chickpeas. I’m not sure if this is because I have better success and luck with white beans when I make hummus as opposed to chickpeas which, for some reason just seem so much harder for me to make a really fantastic hummus. It also just feels softer on my stomach than chickpeas, but that could just be me. Whatever the actual reason, I’m just so glad I’ve made it and can share this recipe with you.
If using dry beans, be sure to cook them far enough in advance to allow them to cook thoroughly and to cool off well in advance of preparing the hummus.
Drain the beans of any excess liquid. To a blender, add the beans, water, sea salt, garlic clove. Blend on high until the mixture is quite smooth. Add the tahini and blend once again until completely smooth.
Pour the mixture into a serving dish or bowl and garnish with desired toppings such as crushed red pepper, sumach and parsley (fresh or dried).
Serve with pita chips, rustic pita bread or any type of fresh bread that will hold up to this mixture.
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Today I made hummus without a food processor or blender because I still don’t have one here in Turkey. I had been holding out making it even though I can easily get dried chickpeas anywhere and they’re super inexpensive.
I was just so hesitant to make it because I knew it wouldn’t come out perfectly smooth the way I’m used to it back in the States. Who would want to eat a lumpy hummus?
Over the summer I had it in a touristy restaurant nearby and it was so tasteless I couldn’t finish eating it (thinking it was due to the texture) but now I realize it was because they didn’t really add any flavor to it.
Fast forward to yesterday when I was watching a few wonderful episodes of Rick Stein’s BBC travel shows in the Mediterranean where he visited Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Greece, Morocco, Turkey (not all in one episode)- basically circling the Mediterranean and all the places I just love so much. When I really love food shows, I usually take something from the show and go into the kitchen and experiment with it because I almost always have the same ingredients around all the time.
In one of the episodes (I can’t recall which one), he showed a restaurant chef making hummus without any sort of food processor or blender, just a mortar and large bowl. He started with the garlic, pressing all the cloves firmly with the pestle, then added in the chickpeas and tahini. When it was ready to be plated, the toppings were superbly generous- and that’s what really made it finished- at least to my eyes.
Make no mistake, I love creamy, smooth hummus but I decided to go ahead and make it anyway with a potato masher and of course all the same ingredients: chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, salt and lemon, 2 cloves garlic. On top I added sumac, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and fresh parsley for all that color and flavor (*product suggestions listed at the end of this post).
The result was a really different but nice, rustic texture than what I’m used to, but definitely a dish I can now appreciate. The ingredients added are important, and the generous sprinkling of toppings are also equally important for aesthetics and taste. I can’t stress the generosity of olive oil and the other colorful stuff enough- that’s what makes it more appealing to those you serve it to, as well.
Sometimes you’ve gotta just work with what you’ve got to achieve the end goal- something you crave, just maybe a slightly different style of it.
For the recipe, nothing was strictly measured, but here are some rough estimates (don’t worry, you will actually make this recipe more by taste than anything else). Afiyet Olsun…
I had no idea what a hit these pita rolls would be. They seemed so easy to make and with such a familiar taste to them, I didn’t even think they would be very interesting to other people. When I instagrammed making these several months ago, so many people were intrigued and wanted the recipe. I totally understand why now- they’re so so easy to make and don’t take too many ingredients to put them together. For people who don’t like tabbouleh or hummus (if they exist), you don’t even really have to put them in the rolls, but they definitely taste better with the two, in my opinion.
Here’s how it goes:
Start with the best quality ingredients you can find, as with all recipes.
The same goes for olive oil and vinegar (i.e. date vinegar or apple cider vinegar). Don’t skimp on the good stuff if you can afford it. There truly is no replacement for real olive oil and the flavor you get with a dark vinegar like date vinegar is unique so if you choose to de-glaze this dish with another type of vinegar (i.e white), it will vary a bit.
You may have questions on the vinegar issue as it relates to halal, I know. So, please visit the vinegar page for what I understand and go by with regards to how I select it. I know
Get a good quality tabbouleh or make it yourself, of course! Here’s a link to my Tabbouleh recipe if you decide to spend a lot of time chopping. It’s quite therapeutic, really.
If you absolutely can’t find the boneless cubes, you can also just get their boneless skinless breast tenders and cut them up, which takes all about 2 minutes for a pound of meat.
Start with a large saute pan and add salt if you’re using a non-stick or a non-cast iron pan. This helps prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan during cooking, which often happens with skinless meats. Add just enough for the recipe to avoid over-salting.
You’re welcome.
Add the oil to pan now gently heat.
When the oil is hot (not burning), add the chicken, freshly ground pepper and any additional salt you think. Cook over medium high heat.
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Let the chicken brown on one side then flip.
Flip again until they’re really nicely browned on all sides. You may need to stay right in front of the pan to do this, in order to avoid burning or pulling apart of any meat.
Now add the vinegar.
All at once. It will start to steam and evaporate just as soon as it hits the pan. Stay right in front of the pan to deglaze the oil and any scraps at the bottom of the pan with your spoon or spatula.
Keep doing this until all of the vinegar is ‘gone’- it’s really attaching itself to the meat.
It should look this beautiful by then, the deep dark color is due to the vinegar. Don’t worry if there’s a little oil left in the pan. That’s actually good because if you’re not eating this right away, you can store the chicken with this oil and re-heat in it so that it doesn’t dry out.
It’ll also give it a bit of a nice sheen.
This is not a greasy sandwich, but that extra oil is kind of nice if you want to add in the pita roll. We love it like that.
Those bite-size pieces are just wonderful, but you can always cut larger pieces if you prefer.
Here’s a video where I show how the same technique is done, although these chicken pieces are uncut (using boneless chicken tenders):
Now get out the hummus. This is a pre-made one, I know. That’s what makes it extra quick when you need things to be fast.
Take a heaping spoonful and spread it across the underside of one whole pita bread laid flat on a plate.
Now do one more heaping spoonful. It makes the sandwich more moist.
Next is the tabbouleh. Another ready-made version. I said I needed it done fast. But truth be told, I have at times made one thing homemade and store-bought the other. Whatever works for you.
Then, add as much chicken as you’ll like per sandwich. I like to divide the final mixture of chicken into fours so that I know I’ll have four evenly-made sandwiches.
Wanna roll? Or eat it open face? Well, you could do either one, really.
Let’s say we roll this time. Take one side of the bread and fold it completely over the ingredients lengthwise.
And, roll again.
Cut them in half, if you like, or just because you want to take photos. Everyone’s doing that these days….
I think we may find one day that there are more pictures of sandwiches and said pita rolls than there are of children in our families.
Years ago I would have never openly served a hummus dish other than one made strictly from chickpeas and tahini (sesame seed paste). I thought I might offend a guest or anyone who thought it would be impossible to enjoy alternatives, although I’ve been playing around with recipes that used red pepper and different types of squash for years and knew they were just as delicious. In fact, here are so many great ingredients that go with tahini , garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, so why not? Well, now’s the time. I may not be able to serve you directly but with this recipe for Acorn Squash Hummus, I hope you’ll do some experimenting of your own and enjoy just how wonderful this alternative can be. And besides, there are some chickpeas in this dish…
The best thing about this recipe is that there are minimal ingredients. If you’re already roasting acorn squash for a side dish or my favorite soup recipe, that’s great because you only need to use one half for this.
Try to use fresh organic lemons or lemon juice as well as a good quality tahini sauce. Allow yourself time to roast the squash and let it cool before handling it in the food processor. Season it just the way you like, including some sea salt. You can use the same seasonings I describe in this video, which also has links to a recipe.
The hummus is actually very good as-is topped with some great quality olive oil, however, I noticed that it needed a little something extra on top and I didn’t want to use any paprika or fresh parsley because I didn’t think those flavors would complement the dip too well; instead I wanted something crunchy and realized that in traditional hummus recipes, fresh chickpeas are used to decorate the dish and also taste very good. To be a little different, I added Saffron Road‘s Falafel Crunchy Chickpeas on top. They were wonderful on top- and because they’re organic and gluten-free, I am happy to say that the entire dish is organic and healthy through and through. It’s passed the taste test of guests and family members so I think it’s something I’ll be serving this fall and winter when I warm the house with wonderful people and wholesome, healthy food, insha’allah.
Remove the flesh of the squash from the shell and place in a food processor.
Add the remaining ingredients. Puree for at least 30 seconds or until it is smooth and the garlic has been fully incorporated.
Use a spatula to scrape out the dip onto a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and add the crunchy chickpeas on top. Serve at room temperature with warm pita bread or baked pita chips.
Disclaimer: I was not paid to review any of the products in this post, however, I did receive a complimentary bag of Saffron Road‘s Falafel Crunchy Chickpeas.
Sometimes you’ve gotta just work with what you’ve got to achieve the end goal- something you crave, just maybe a slightly different style of it.
