Hummus / Healthy Friendship 鷹嘴豆泥 / 健康的友誼

I had lots of hummus on almost every parties with my American girlfriend. But, no one made the best hummus like Linda. Her hummus might looked ordinary, but tasted so clean and refreshing. I adore it very much. I asked her what was her secret. She taught me, I need to soaked the chickpeas first, then cook it ..... but used the best quality extra virgin Oliver oil was the key. I think this hummus was also totally expressed Linda’s personality too, just simply delicious ! I met Linda at kids school playground while we were waiting to pick up our kids. Our kids weren’t in the same class, but they hanged out very nice together. Her boy was tall and big. My boy was very petite. I still remember Linda’s boy picked up my little boy, then kept spinning around and round. They were laughed so loud. Linda’s and I all love to cook and dressed nicely. So we have lots in commons to chat about our daily life. She came from Lebanons, grew up in a wealth family. She always had a maid to help her on the household. But she never looked someone down or criticized anyone else, nor behave arrogantly to others. She spoke directly without much polished words. She was so down to the earth person. I didn’t need to rack my mind to hangout with her. But lots of moms didn’t like her. They jealous about she had maid, her fancy bag, and big diamond ring. They complaining about her words were too sharp. I’m just a housewife from the middle class family, but non of these matters will effect me when I try to make some friends. I never really care about what were my friends background. Lots of time, I don’t even know how they really looked like. Because most of time I would focus on our conversation and I would definitely get to know what my friends really are, and what they really tried to say. These were all I had cared. I do believe a truthfully friends should be very easy going. We would have something in common to share the the joys. Perhaps, we could support and help each other’s in need. We will be always care for each other and wish each other could live healthy and happily ever after. I found out I need more personal space and quiet time as I am getting older, so I could live in my inner peace. That’s why I can’t waste my time with negative people who has no interest to become a better person anymore. I will still try my best manner to socialize, but only take few truthful friends get into my personal life. Confucius said, “ The gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity. The villains aims at uniformity, and not at harmony. These words are very close to my heart now. It will be my guidance for me to hangout with my friends in the future. Thanks to Linda share her recipe with me. My hummus is still taste like Lucy. We might use the same ingredients, but the difference between people will also show it on the cooking. I still adore Linda’s hummus, but when I want to have some hummus now. I could make it anytime I want. Ingredients: 1. Chick peas 1 LB. It will be a little bit more than 2 cups after soaked in the water.

2. 2 cloves of garlic. 3. Carrots, cucumbers, celeries, sweet peppers, tomatos all cut into bite size. Seasoning: 1. 1/4 cup of extra virgin Oliver oils.

2. 1 teaspoon of sesame oil or tahini sauce, or 1 teaspoon of good sesame oil will do the work.

3. 1 tablespoon of cilantro stems, or 1/4 cups of cilantro. *cilantro stem won’t change the color of hummus. If you use the cilantro leaves would change the color to light green. I’m not a big fan of cilantro, but I really like the refreshing cilantro flavors in my hummus. It’s your personal preference. 4. 2 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

5. Sea salt. 6. Water. Soak chick peas in lots of water, till the chick peas back to like the fresh. About 6 hours. *Once the dried chick peas back to like the fresh one. If you are not gonna use it right away, remember to keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. This way will keep its freshness. Add the garlic, new fresh clean water just enough to cover with the chickpeas. Use high heat bring it to the boiled, then change to medium low heat. Keep the small bobbing in the pot. Cook the chickpeas until soft and tender. *Chickpeas are high in protein, so it will be going bad quickly. That’s why I usually use half of it to make hummus, keep the other half in the freezer. Whenever I want to have hummus, I could make it right away and skip the long hours of soaking chickpeas in the water or cooking on the stove. If you try to use all the chickpeas at once to make hummus. Please don’t forget to double the seasoning ingredients.

Save 1/4 cup of chickpeas for decoration. Place half pot of chickpeas, 1 clove of cooked garlic in the food processor. Add in the extra virgin Oliver oil, sesame paste, lemon juice and lemon zest, salt. Gradually add in few water to make chickpeas to blend it well. The texture should be thick and smooth. Have some mix vegetables cut out, then serve it with thick , creamy, aromatic hummus as a dipping sauce. This will be the great refreshing summer appetizer. These same ingredients place In the bread, add in some of feta cheese. It will become a refreshing vegetarian sandwiches. You will fall in love with this healthy yummy dish again!!!

我和美國的女性朋友們在大部分的聚會上嚐過不少的鷹嘴豆泥. 但沒有人做的鷹嘴豆泥比琳達的棒. 她的鷹嘴豆泥看似一般, 然而味道卻相當的乾淨及爽口. 我問她的秘密是什麼. 她敎我, 首先要浸泡鷹嘴豆, 再煮它 .... 但用最好的橄欖油才是關鍵. 我覺得這鷹嘴豆泥還充份的展現了琳達的個性, 就是那麼的簡單, 美味! 我和琳達是在接孩子放學的學校遊戲廣場認識的. 我們的孩子並沒有同班, 但他們在一起玩的很開心. 她的兒子高大, 我的兒子個小. 我還記得琳達的兒子抱起我的兒子不停的轉呀轉的. 他們笑的很開心. 琳達和我一樣喜歡做菜, 也愛打扮自己. 所以我們有許多共同的話題可以閒聊家常. 琳達來自黎巴嫩的富裕家庭, 成長的過程中一直有女傭在家幫忙她的家務. 但她從未瞧不起或批評任何人, 更別說是對他人表現的自大狂妄. 她説話直接沒有什麼修飾. 她就是一個很實在的人. 我不用絞盡腦汁和她相處. 然而卻有許多媽媽不喜歡她. 她們嫉妒她有傭人, 擁有名牌包和大鑽戒. 她們還埋怨琳達的話語太銳利. 我只是個小康家庭的主婦, 但這些事, 我卻一點也不會受到影響! 很多時候, 我甚至不太清楚朋友們的長相. 因為我很專注於朋友彼此之間的話題, 了解他們是怎麼的一個人, 想表達的又是什麼樣的心情. 這些才是我真正在乎的. 我深信一位真誠的朋友當然需要能夠很自然的相處. 又或者是我們有著共同的興趣和嗜好, 可以彼此分享. 也許我們在彼此需要的時候, 可以支持或是幫助對方. 我們還能總是掛心著對方, 希望對方都能過著幸福安康的日子! 我發現年紀漸長後很怕吵雜的生活, 更需要一顆平靜又安穩的心好好過日子. 很難再浪費時間去和那些充滿負面思考, 又不長進的人在一起, 避免讓他們動盪我的心. 但我還是會很有禮貌的維持社交, 但只接受少數真誠的朋友進入我的生活環境中. 孔子曰, 君子和而不同, 小人同而不和. 這句話很貼近我的心聲. 更是我往後的交友態度. 很謝謝琳達分享她的食譜與我, 但我的鷹嘴豆泥呈現的還是屬於露西的味道. 一樣的材料卻不同的風味, 這就是人與人之間個性的不同,也能在烹飪上展現差異. 我還是很喜歡琳達的鷹嘴豆泥, 但想吃的時候我現在也可以自己做了! 材料: 1. 鷹嘴豆1磅, 浸泡於水中後約2杯多一點. 2. 2 顆大蒜. 3. 紅蘿蔔, 小黃瓜, 西洋芹菜, 彩椒, 蕃茄全切成一口大小. 調味料: 1. 1/4杯的初榨橄欖油. 2. 1小匙的純芝麻醬或是塔希泥醤. 1小匙的好芝麻油也是可以的. 3. 1 大匙的香菜梗或是1/4杯的香菜葉. *使用香菜梗不會改變鷹嘴豆泥的顏色. 如果你使用香菜葉的話鷹嘴豆泥則會變得有點淡綠色. 我通常不是很喜歡香菜的人, 但是我很喜歡香菜在鷹嘴豆泥中那股清新味道. 4. 2大匙的檸檬汁和1小匙的檸檬碎皮. 5. 海塩 6. 水. 作法: 1. 鷹嘴豆用多點水浸泡, 至豆子回到新鮮的樣子. 約6小時. *一旦鷹嘴豆回到新鮮的樣子後, 如果沒有要馬上做. 記得瀝乾水分冷凍或冷藏, 才能保持新鮮. 2. 將浸泡後的鷹嘴豆加入剛好蓋過的新水, 兩顆蒜頭. 大火煮沸後改中小火, 維持鍋內中水份的小氣泡. 再煮個5-7分鐘, 熟了鬆軟即可! *因為新鮮的鷹嘴豆含豐富蛋白質很容易敗壞所以我只用了一半來打泥, 另一半冷凍. 想吃的時候再做. 就省去了長時間的浸泡和烹煮的過程. 如果你要一次把所有鷹嘴豆泥做好, 記得加一倍的調味材料喔！ 3. 留約1/4杯的鷹嘴豆做裝飾用. 將煮好一半的鷹嘴豆和𥚃面一顆蒜頭撈出放入食物調理機, 加入橄欖油, 芝麻醬, 香菜, 檸檬汁, 檸檬碎皮, 海塩, 慢慢用水將鷹嘴豆泥打成濃稠順口的濃度即可. 切些各具特色的蔬菜拼盤, 沾上既清爽又香濃的鷹嘴豆泥則是夏日炎炎的開胃冷盤. 同樣的這些材料, 加上費塔起司夾在麵包裡又成了清爽的素食三明治. 你會愛上這份健康的美食!