Mediterranean Lunch

My wife and I prepared a Middle Eastern type lunch last week. My wife made the delicious Greek style soup and the herb roll bread. I made falafel and hummus as fillers.

The soup, herb roll, and hummus were taken from Kurma das prabhu.

Greek style white bean and vegetable soup - Fasoulada

Any white bean are preferred such as cannellini, black eyedbeans, lima, navy or haricot beans. Beans soaking time is one hour or over night.

2 cups white beans of your choice
8 cups water
1 teaspoon asafetida
1.5 cup copped pealed tomatoes
3/4 cup diced carrot
1 cup chopped celery including leaves
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2-3 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1/4 freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugat
1.5 teaspoon salt
chopped parsley for garnish

Pressure cook the soaked beans. Heat the oil, saute the vegetables, add the remaining ingredients and return the pan to full heat bringing to boil, then reduce to simmer and cook until vegetables are tender. Add the beans and stir in the salt. Serve the soup hot and garnish with parsley.

Chickpea and Sesame Paste Dip (Hummus bi Tahina)

200g dried chickpeas, that's one very heaped metric measuring cup
¼ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder (to replace two cloves garlic)
6 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon salt

Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight or at least 12 hours. Drain and place the chickpeas in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water, about three times the volume, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour or until the chickpeas are tender, topping up with water if necessary.

Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid. Cool slightly then rub the chickpeas well to loosen the skins. Cover with cold water and the loose skins will rise to the surface. Scoop them off and discard.

Place the peeled chickpeas in a food processor with the lemon juice, asafetida, tahini and half of the salt. Process to a smooth puree, adding some of the reserved cooking liquid if necessary to achieve a smooth result. Add the remaining salt if it needs it.

Falafel (googled it)

2 cups dried chickpeas (soaked overnight and boiled the next day)
1 teaspoon Asafetida
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons All purpose flour
Salt
Pepper
Oil for frying

Combine chickpeas, asafetida, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour.Mash chickpeas, ensuring to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste. Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten. Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (5-7 minutes). Serve hot.