Chickpea garbanzo bean dip

Chickpea garbanzo bean dip, or hummus, is a delicious condiment rich in vegetable protein that is so easy to make but needs a little aforethought.

When you have prepared a dish twice a week for fifteen years, then you know it's sustainable and tasty, and in this instance very nutritious.

This page was last updated by Dr Barrie Lewis on 8th May, 2021.

Known as choumi to the Greeks, and hummus to the rest of the world, this simple mixture of legumes, sesame seeds and other bits and bobs is simply delicious.

It is definitely not a last moment dish unless you use the canned legumes at four times the price.

Yet it does not take much time to prepare; only four minutes to make. But first, they need to be soaked at least overnight and preferably longer, and then boiled in a pressure-cooker for half an hour.

Are you starving at 11am? Do you suffer from constipation, heart problems and high cholesterol? Chickpea dishes are for you. Research shows those who enjoy this garbanzo bean dip are much less likely to snack, feel constantly peckish and actually eat less overall. 

The garbanzo bean or chickpea is the world's favourite legume and for good reason.

Neither a bean, nor a pea, more of them are eaten than either the common green climber or the world's favourite frozen veggie. It's delicious if you add some goodies and rich in vegetable protein, particularly tryptophan, an essential amino acid, used for example in the body to manufacture melatonin; it helps you sleep better.

• Chickpea burgers ... much nicer than soy burgers.
• More about garbanzo beans. Scroll down past our tongue-in-cheek Chiropractic Help ROOT OF ALL HEALING ...

In the subcontinent, chickpeas are known as white channa. There, of course, rather than tahini, the Indians prefer other spices like ground coriander, turmeric and garam masala. With fresh tomatoes, it's called Channa Masala; google it.

Chickpea garbanzo bean dip

Your chickpea garbanzo bean dip is the second most potent natural food to lower cholesterol; if you're tired of those nasty side effects of statins, like restless legs and impotence, then it's time to start making your own hummus. Once you have the ingredients at hand, it takes less than five minutes. Get off statins safely starting today.

Ingredients for Hummus

1. 1 cup dry Chickpeas / aka Garbanzo beans.
2. One clove of garlic, more if your friends and family don't mind!
3. Two TBSP Tahini -

What's Tahini? Sesame tahini.

4. A couple tablespoons Olive Oil, be generous.
5. A few slices of peeled lemon. A little of the finally chopped rind is also nice. Or, half lemon, half orange. And a few slices of any other fruit.
   
6. A good pinch of Salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
7. Update: Half a cup of water or yoghurt, is my variation; I prefer it less thick with a salad.
   
8. A handful of chopped fresh Parsley benefits.
9. 1 tsp of ground cumin.
10. If you like it creamy and moist add a couple tablespoons of water rather than more oil or yoghurt.
    

How to make tahini

How to make tahini for your chickpea garbanzo bean dip is only for those who don't have access to a Middle Eastern supermarket.

If you have no Greek, Turkish or Lebanese shops in your area, you may have difficulty getting tahini. I can now make my own, but somehow it's not quite up to the perfectly roasted paste from the Middle East; they've been making it for thousands of years, and to date I haven't matched it.

• How to make Tahin

Cumin

Cumin is a Middle Eastern spice that, freshly ground, adds so much to your chickpea garbanzo bean dip. The good news is that it's readily available, and easy to roast and grind your own.

What is Cumin? It's far nicer home roasted and ground than the powdered stuff you'll buy in the supermarket that is soon ancient and almost valueless; don't tell the spice people I said so!

PS. I'm making this delic hummus as I type! I want it to go with our salad. Last night, I put the chickpeas in plenty of water to soak. Plenty.

Method 1: Cooking chickpeas using a pressure cooker; add plenty of water. Thirty minutes.

Method 2:

This morning, just before I left for the Chiropractic Coalface I brought them to the boil for ten minutes. When I arrived home this evening, I pitched out the liquid (don't pour it onto your potted plants as one patient was doing - it has a growth inhibitor!). Swill the peas out a few times with fresh water and then put them on to boil until tender. About an hour and a half in a normal pot. They must be tender or they'll give you a bellyache.

When cooked, drop the cloves of garlic into the boiling mixture after you have turned the heat off. It takes the bite off the garlic and they are less likely to cause heartburn. Tip off and discard the liquid and again rinse a few times with fresh water.

SAVE THE PLANET: Grains like rice,  lentils and dried Garbanzo beans for your Chickpea Garbanzo Bean dip do not need a full two hours of cooking.  The pressure cooker is a wonder. Don't buy aluminium. There are still questions about the metal and Alzheimer's disease. 

Nutritional virtues of our dip

But first a little update on this page.  Preparing your hummus leaves quite a big carbon footprint; it takes a lot of energy to prepare them. So, if you are crazy about the nutritional values of our dip like I am, soak and pressure-cook a couple pounds and you'll find freezing chickpeas a breeze.

Soaking overnight with a squeeze of lemon juice, and rinsing several times also negates the effects of phytates that bind the minerals in your chickpeas.

In the same vein when you are boiling an egg pour only a smidgen of water in the pot, bring to the boil and, immediately it's steaming hard, switch off.

In ten minutes you have your soft-boiled egg. They very rarely crack if you use just a little water; no more than 5mm deep. Perhaps roll it around once or twice.

Leave it boiling for two minutes longer, and you will have a hard boiled egg.

Apart from being a very rich source of vegetable protein, this chickpea garbanzo bean dip stays with you for the whole day, so you don't get hungry two hours later; they are loaded with the soluble fibre that gives you a happy tummy. That is the stuff that deals effectively with constipation but also leaves one more satisfied after a meal.

There's lots of research that proves that garbanzo beans, and in fact all legumes, drastically reduce the bad cholesterol in your blood (LDLs).

They are also rich in a trace element that is quite difficult to get, molybdenum; magnesium and folic acid too. All these have been proved to greatly reduce heart disease, for various reasons; read about it at homocysteine cardiovascular using the site search function.

The joy of foods like our CHICKPEA GARBANZO BEAN DIP, APPLE SALAD RECIPE and PICKLED BEETS is that you can enjoy more butter instead of that horrid, deadly margarine (hydrogenated foods), and still keep your cholesterol within normal limits. How do I know? I eat plenty of butter - more than is good, I admit - but my LDL is dangerously low!

• Hydrogenated foods like margarine ...  why are they so bad?
• Suffering from generalised muscle weakness? Chickpeas are also rich in thiamine. A diet based on refined white rice causes beri beri.
• Tired all the time syndrome; chickpeas are a rich source of iron.
  

Chickpeas are also the richest single source of vitamin B6, pyridoxine; it's involved as a coenzyme in over 100 vital reactions in the body. Researchers found that those getting inadequate B6 in the diet were 165% more likely to become frail within 3.5 years.⁽¹⁾

Olive garden salad recipe

Whilst the Garbanzos are boiling, I get on with the preparation of the Olive Garden Salad Recipe; make it in a jiffy.

Then you will be ready to spoon the scrumptious chickpea garbanzo bean dip onto your salad, garnish with a few olives and Bob's your uncle, you have the perfect salmagundi. Add a sliced boiled egg if you like, or smoked salmon; there's enough soluble fibre here to keep your blood cholesterol in good shape.

Incidentally, Americans and probably Europeans too on average consume less than 50% of the recommended choline; it's a B vitamin intimately involved in the methylation of highly inflammatory homocysteine, a breakdown product of protein metabolism.

There's some in your chickpea garbanzo bean dip, but much more in eggs; they are the richest source; we avoid them at our peril. Even the American Heart Association agrees. A deficiency causes birth defects too.

Blend your hummus

Every kitchen needs a stick blender, if only to blend your hummus; it's a gem for making soups too.

For your chickpea garbanzo bean dip - hummus or humus - (has the lowest glycemic index on the GI scale: only 6!)

1. Tip the garbanzos and the parboiled garlic clove into the liquider, or alternatively roast the garlic with a littl olive oil in the oven for ten minutes.
2. add the Olive Oil, be generous
3. Two TBSP tahini.
4. and the half Lemon, pulp and all, and the salt and some fresh black pepper.
5. Handful of parsley.

You guessed it; liquidise. Mm, it is a bit thick, the blender is taking strain. More olive oil, or a bit of yoghurt perhaps for a change? I've been adding more sweet fruit like mango too; it definitely improves the hummus. These days I am adding a couple tablespoons of water too.

I just met a professional chef who adds no olive oil, but only water. He likes to make it with beetroot; each to his own.

Drat, I forgot the tahini and it is almost finished and I will have to cycle into Rotterdam on Saturday to pay the Turk a visit. Actually the olives are already finished so it will not be in vain. And I have just finished cleaning the stick blender; always do it straight away. Unplug it first.

Honest injun

The honest truth is that plain hummus (chickpea garbanzo bean dip) is rather boring. It has very little taste. You eat it because it is good for you. But you can make it delicious, to your own particular fancy. I like to add radishes from the garden, or celery, or some chili, or a sweet fruit like mango. Experimentation is the keyword.

How to grow radishes … easy as falling off a bus. Again, use the site search function.

I eat hummus every single day. Literally. On bread, with a salad, on a biscuit, even with my breakfast cereal; it does not last more than three days, so the balance goes to lowering the GI of our vegan seed bread recipe; that is done by adding some fat as in olive oil and protein.

Quick hummus

Are you looking for some short cuts? Try this quick hummus recipe. Part of the secret is a pressure cooker. It makes cooking chickpeas a lot easier and quicker.

Authentic hummus recipe

Authentic hummus recipe frankly is a bit of a hoax as you can add just about anything, and everything to this slightly different chickpea garbanzo bean dip.

But the basics remain; chickpeas, olive oil, cumin, garlic, tahini and parsley.

Right now mangoes are in season, and jalapenos, so I add both; it's wonderful. To be honest chickpeas are a little dull and any dish needs to be livened up. 

PS. Healthy Living tips: If you want to live to a happy healthy eighty, you can't be without olives and tahini in the home. And a few other things you'll find at Healthy living tips ..

Authentic hummus recipe ... more ideas about Hummus.

• "She who must be obeyed" tells me that the Salmon and Broccoli soup is ready, and by the time we're finished the first two courses the Chicken Curry will be done.

Oh, whilst I did nearly forgot the tahini in our CHICKPEA GARBANZO BEAN DIP but must not omit

Some hae meat and cannae eat

Some would eat that want it

But we hae meat and we can eat

Sae let the Lord be thankit

Just down the road a million miles

Our children they are crying

Too weak to eat they've got no meat

They spend their living dying.

Pulp of lemon and orange

The pulp of lemon and orange contains much of the goodies; when making your chickpea garbanzo bean dip, use the whole fruit.

Whilst I confess I haven't made the same comparison with a lemon, an investigation of ORANGE JUICE FACTS reveals that there is an enormous difference between using the whole orange, pulp and all, and only the juice. OJ from a carton has minimal vitamin C, folate, magnesium, calcium... and all the other goodies are deficient.

Rather use the whole fruit when making your chickpea garbanzo bean dip (hummus). Eat whole oranges and apples, and avoid the high Glycemic Index fruit juices. They stress your pancreas and increase the insulin output, the hormone that turns blood sugar to FAT!

• Glycemic Index and a carbohydrate count chart ...

Obesity

Do we always eat like this? Nearly, certainly three nights a week. But the helpings of soup and chicken curry are very small. And the salad is enormous! In any case you won't get fat eating huge scoops of chickpea garbanzo bean dip on a giant salad; obesity isn't a problem with food like this. 

The key to losing weight is NOT eating less of the healthy fats (like olive oil) (Why? Because nerves are coated in the good fats and new research is confirming that the really serious neurological conditions (like motor neuron disease) are caused by a high carb/ low fat diet. Read more ... TINGLING IN ARMS AND HANDS ...

but less

• refined carbohydrate (like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, pizza, sugar and chocolate cake) and
• UN-healthy fats (in dairy and meat, and solvent extracted seed oils particularly.)

It's all about balance. Eat plenty of fruit, salad and our Chickpea Garbanzo Bean dip, and you can enjoy some dairy without guilt. I do, and my cholesterol is fine.

Oh, and of course, tomorrow's lunch sandwiches always include a slice of bread smeared generously with hummus, and a couple slithers of tomato and, if you have it in the garden, a few leaves of fresh sweet basil.

In fact, I've taken to adding a generous tablespoon to my cereal in the morning. Then I don't get ravenous at the CHIROPRACTIC COALFACE 2 at 11am!

Free weight loss programs ...

Increased fibre slashes cariovascular disease rates A 14-year long study, reported in J.Nutr June, 2010, of 60 000 Japanese men and women found that: Those consuming the most fibre were 18% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, compared to those eating the least. Fruit fibre was the most effective, reducing heart disease by over 50%. The researchers conclude that: “Dietary intakes of fibre, both insoluble and soluble fibres, and especially fruit and cereal fibers, may reduce risk of mortality from coronary heart disease.”

TIP: Hummus tastes great with fruit other than lemon too. I make hummus regularly, and we eat it EVERY day, that's one of the reasons my cholesterol is 4,2 (about 160 I believe in American figures) and this time I used a whole orange instead of lemon. Last time it was a peach, that's still my favourite. Nope: grapes are now my family's favourite in my CHICKPEA GARBANZO BEAN DIP!

It's not rocket science: Double the fibre in your diet and you decrease the risk of heart disease by a half.

Growing chickpeas

Got a bit of space in the veggie garden? Think about growing chickpeas, your very own, but only if you live in a hot, low rainfall summer area like California. They have a long growing season, and frankly whilst I grew a few for green chickpeas, they are a pain to reap.

Green or dried, for your chickpea garbanzo bean dip, they are delic and healthy.

• Growing chickpeas / garbanzo beans ...

Green beans

Cooking green beans is something that even the dumbest male can learn to do! After all, I can do it! What's more in fifteen minutes from start to finish. I call it Slow Food Made Fast. Eight weeks to grow them, five minutes to pick them, three minutes to top 'n tail, and two minutes to cook after they've come to the boil. A favourite lunch is a green bean salad with a scoop of your chickpea garbanzo bean dip.

The bean, full of protein and healthy carbohydrate, a wonder food, full stop...... delic, healthy, very low glycemic index, low in calories, full of anti-oxidants, rich in folate and vitamin B6 to prevent homocysteine build up, what more do you want?
 

Growing green beans is even easier than cooking them. Unless you choose to plant the bush bean variety, then I strongly recommend you do your chiropractic help Lower back exercises ... demonstrated here on YouTube.

Otherwise you're likely to be disgruntled with a Lumbar disc protrusion and decide that frozen green beans are lot cheaper! Not half as nice and healthy though, and besides which you'll miss out on seeing those fairies at the bottom of the garden!

Update: I've changed my tune rather; for the last three years our green beans were destroyed by the Mexican bean beetle; refusing to spray we were at a loss. The introduction of free range hens into our garden has supplied the unexpected solution; they love the Mexican bean beetle larvae it would seem.

Why on a Chiropractic Help site? There is so much evidence now that a healthy spine, bones, cartilage, discs is not only dependent on reducing subluxations that cause the immobilisation arthritis that afflicts so many folk. Your spine also needs healthy nutrition to repair and be strong. So chiropractors from of old have been intensely interested in exercise and good nutrition.

And anyway, what's the point of a healthy subluxation-free spine, if you are deficient in magnesium, and have a heart attack and die? Where are you going to live if you don't look after the bod? Our hummus, Chickpea Garbanzo Bean dip is loaded with magnesium and lot of other goodness.

Think Chiropractic Help, think exercise, read more from our nutritious living tips.

• Dips made with Cream Cheese; or Feta.