Mediterranean meal elevates hummus from dip to dinner

photographed Thursday, October 30, 2008, in the San Francisco Chronicle Studio.Thor Swift For the San Francisco ChronicleHummus for Amanda Berne's Accidental Vegetarian Column photographed Thursday, October 30, 2008, in the San Francisco Chronicle Studio.Thor Swift For the San Francisco Chronicle less photographed Thursday, October 30, 2008, in the San Francisco Chronicle Studio.Thor Swift For the San Francisco ChronicleHummus for Amanda Berne's Accidental Vegetarian Column photographed Thursday, October 30, ... more Photo: Thor Swift, The Chronicle Photo: Thor Swift, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Mediterranean meal elevates hummus from dip to dinner 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Northern California is undeniably a haven for all sorts of foodstuffs, from fresh seasonal produce to top-notch regional Chinese and Vietnamese fare. Tacos that taste straight out of Mexico City, or dosa that would make your Indian grandmother cry, are only a few of the tempting options.

But when it comes to great Eastern Mediterranean dishes - hummus, falafel, ful (fava beans, pronounced "fool") - many places simply can't compete with what I fell in love with in New York.

There are some exceptions - I could bathe in the hummus at Goood Frikin Chicken in San Francisco. But my favorite place is a tiny restaurant in New York's East Village called Hummus Place. Its equally minuscule menu features the namesake garbanzo bean puree whipped into submission, resulting in a thick, ultra-creamy version.

Purists order it unadorned but for a swirl of olive oil. For a heartier meal, it comes topped with saucy chickpeas or lightly dressed favas. Fluffy hot pita is the perfect dipper, and a chopped salad of tomato and cucumber is zippy enough to cut through the richness.

While hummus as a meal might seem alien to those who relegate it to a dip for carrot sticks, it actually makes perfect sense. Think of polenta, risotto, grits or mashed potatoes - all creamy counterpoints or a base for a rich dish or stew. But garbanzo beans also are a great source of dietary fiber, calcium and protein.

In Israel and Lebanon, it's not uncommon to find a meal of pita, hummus and ful as breakfast. The nutty paste easily sustains a person until lunch.

Hummus tricks

There are a few tricks to making hummus you want to bathe in. First is the quality of ingredients. Try to use the best you can possibly get your hands on. Whole, dried garbanzo beans make the resulting hummus taste fresher. They should be soaked overnight to ensure even cooking.

Also, use good-quality olive oil. This recipe calls for much less oil than many other hummus recipes, so make sure it's top-notch, as you want the flavor to shine through.

I also use whole cumin seeds, which stay fresh longer, and toast and grind them myself. If you are using jarred ground cumin, you may have to add up to a teaspoon more, depending on the age of the spice.

Whether using a blender or a food processor, a big trick to making an ultra-creamy hummus, without the addition of tons of fat, is to process it much longer than you would think. Taste the hummus throughout, and if there is any bit of graininess, keep blending. The finished recipe should be light, airy, almost the texture of whipped cream, but heavier (think cake batter).

Let it rest

After you make the hummus, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (an hour is better) to let the flavors settle. The hummus will keep a few days, but if that's your plan, cut back on some of the garlic, which becomes more pungent with each passing day.

To make a full meal out of the hummus, rather than just a dip, make a pot of ful while you are cooking the garbanzo beans.

Ful is originally an Egyptian dish, often eaten at breakfast, of favas cooked slowly, then tossed with lemon, oil and garlic. It can be tinkered with any way the cook prefers - spice level, more or less lemon or garlic, and dried or fresh favas.

Favas, a celebrated Middle Eastern bean, come in a few different dried forms. I've tried ful recipes with both skinless and skin-on favas. The skinless take much less time to cook, but don't have the same creaminess as the skin-on kind.

Older favas, which have tougher skin, may need to be peeled. Peel them after boiling and cooling just enough to handle. They should still be warm when tossed in the dressing.

Just for kicks, harissa, whether homemade or store-bought, allows you to make the hummus as spicy as you like. Add a few pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers, and perhaps a slice of creamy Israeli feta for a full meal, with extras to keep you nibbling for days.

Hummus Serves 8 Hummus will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days. 1 1/2 cup dried garbanzo beans

1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt + more to taste

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin + more to taste

2 garlic cloves

-- Juice from 1 lemon + more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

-- Ful (see recipe)

Garnishes:

1 small red onion, finely diced

4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into wedges

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 cup torn mint leaves

-- Harissa (see recipe), to taste Instructions: Soak garbanzo beans overnight in enough water to cover by 2 inches. Drain and rinse well. Place in a pot, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 hours, adding more water if needed. (Depending on the age of the beans, cooking times can vary by about 30 minutes. Start checking beans at 1 hour.) Remove from heat, add salt and let cool in cooking liquid. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chickpeas to a food processor or blender, reserving liquid. Pulse until coarsely pureed. Add tahini and process until smooth. Add olive oil, cumin, garlic, lemon juice and pepper, and process for at least 2 minutes and up to 5. Adjust consistency with cooking liquid, if necessary. Hummus should have the consistency of thick whipped cream. The mixture will be smooth, but taste it. If there is any grittiness, keep pureeing until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy. Adjust seasoning with salt, cumin and lemon, adding more if desired. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. To serve, top the hummus with Ful. Garnish with the onion, eggs, cilantro, mint and harissa. Per serving: 440 calories, 17 g protein, 36 g carbohydrate, 27 g fat (4 g saturated), 106 mg cholesterol, 881 mg sodium, 10 g fiber.

Ful Makes 2 cups 1 1/2 cup dried brown fava beans, peeled or unpeeled

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons salt + more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 lemon, juiced Instructions: Soak fava beans overnight in enough water to cover by 2 inches. Drain and rinse well. Place in a pot, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until tender but not mushy, adding more water if needed, about 30 minutes for peeled beans, or 1 hour for unpeeled. (Depending on the age of the beans, cooking times can vary by about 30 minutes. Start checking unpeeled beans at 45 minutes.) Drain, then toss with the remaining ingredients. Let stand at least 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning with lemon juice and salt before serving.