Orange Humus

This is a great recipe for days of abstinence. You do need to plan ahead by a day to get the chickpeas ready. Humus (aka, houmus, hummus, et al.) is a Middle Eastern dish, similar to Israeli falafel, only humus usually is used as a spread with pita bread or crackers.

1-1/2 cups raw chick peas (soak overnight, discard water, refill till well covered, then bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer for about 2 hours. Drain and let the chickpeas cool before assembling the humus.) 1/4 tsp. each: ground cumin, ground coriander, ground ginger, mustard powder, turmeric, paprika 1/2 cup orange juice 1/4 cup tahini 1-1/2 tsp. salt 2 Tbs. cider vinegar 3 medium garlic cloves, crushed (or 2 Tbs. crushed garlic if you buy the crushed, bottled kind) 1-2 tsp. tamari sauce (a specially brewed Japanese soy sauce...best of the lot) 3 scallions, finely minced (whites and greens) The easiest way to make this is to put the chickpeas in your food processor with the cutting blade, then add all of the above ingredients (except the scallions). Turn it on to whir for a minute or two. Turn into a bowl, add the scallions and mix. Ready to serve, or put in fridge. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator (not that it ever lasts long at my house; one of my daughter likes this for breakfast, so it goes fast.) If you don't have the food processor, you can use a potato masher or just the back of a large spoon. Or some carefully washed hands can squish it all up together. Serve with pita bread, sliced bell pepper strips and/or carrot sticks.

From The Enchanted Broccoli Garden by Mollie Katzen. Copyright 1982. Published by Ten Speed Press.