Over the last few years, Mediterranean cuisine has gained popularity for it’s easy-to-follow and extremely healthy dishes. It is fresh, light and tasty, and is known to offer a multitude of health benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Mediterranean cooking is a simple cuisine, one whose basic tenet is that food should be served as close to its natural state as possible. It is not a cuisine that requires the mastering of complicated sauces or difficult techniques, in fact many cooks tend to roast, fry, grill or boil their foods.
In celebration of all-things related to the Mediterranean Diet, I wanted to share a recipe highlighting one of the core Mediterranean diet staple ingredients: Greek Olive Oil. You can use this as a spread (try it on a sandwich) or use it as a dip with your favorite pita chips or raw veggies! The recipe will make 2 servings.
Delicious Chickpea Spread Recipe
7 oz chickpeas
2 teaspoons PDO Kalamata Greek extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (if desired)
Mash chickpeas lightly in a bowl with a fork. Mix in extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. If desired, add ground cumin. Mash all ingredients together thoroughly or, if a smoother spread is desired, use a food processor to blend the ingredients.
This is an easy recipe for hummus, although I would miss the tahini. I still would enjoy this mixture.
I do like hummus, so I bet I would like this! I’ll pin this & give it a try.
This sounds good, when I run out of tahini for making hummus, I want t try this recipe, I might like it better than regular hummus!
Since I’m lazy I’ll make it in the food processor. Lots of good flavors in this. Can use it as a sandwich spread, too.
I love chickpeas, and dont have them enough. I think it would be a whole lot like hummus which I also enjoy. I do not know the difference between Greek and Italian olive ils I am afraid. I use olive oil. but I think it is the Italian version. I will try looking for the Greek kind as we enjoy Greek foods and see if there is a difference.
I don’t know enough about olive oil to know the difference between Greek olive oil and the more common Italian olive oil. There’s a shop in a nearby town that sells only oils and vinegars, so perhaps one of these days I’ll get there and do a taste-test. Meanwhile, I love this simple recipe for a hummus-like spread. I love chickpeas, and this looks like a great way to enjoy them. Thanks.
Put this in a food processor and we call it hummus! I make it every single week. Often I add something like roasted red peppers or cilantro.
I’m pinning this recipe since I have dry chickpeas I need motivation to make and eat! I like chickpeas roasted as well but this is a good one for the hot weather we’re having. I’ll have to try this in the food processor too.