Let's kick Whole30ish off with an exception
Because I really want to share a recipe for Loring Place hummus
It’s not lost on me that I’m kicking off my Whole30ish adventure with a recipe that is not strictly (or even remotely) compliant. Or that my list of things I want to share with you include other non-compliant things, like homemade yogurt.
You can confidently interpret this as an indication that my commitment to food deliciousness tempers my willingness to fully comply to any diet, particularly when I’m not exactly buying the rationale for exclusions in the first place.
Whole30 purists will know all the reasons legumes are not allowed: they may cause inflammation or hinder nutrient absorption, animal proteins are better sources of proteins, and vegetable / fruit / nuts are better sources of fiber.
OK, but for real: if the last two weeks have taught me anything at all, it is that my body is getting plenty of animal protein and vegetable fiber lately, as the elimination of practically all forms of carbs leaves room for little else.
Also: during what our children non-affectionally refer to as the “Bean Diet era,” when we tried to eat beans at least twice a day, we all felt great—flatulence jokes aside. Most of the world’s population eats this way, and any attempt to eat sustainably will lead you right back to beans. Maybe that’s why it’s allowed on the plant-based version of Whole30?
Thus! We’ve decided to allow beans into our Whole30ish approach, with the intention of using them to complement meat and vegetables versus as a replacement for a while.
And if you know me well (or even just a little bit), you may have suspected that all this lead-up about beans is just a way to justify pressing one of my favorite recipes onto you: Loring Place hummus.
Loring Place is one of our favorite restaurants in New York: produce-driven and seasonal. After one particularly memorable dinner, we purchased the cookbook—only to figure out exactly why our meals there had been amazing. Each recipe was comprised of two or three other recipes that were components. Ugh. Am I the only one who HATES when recipes do that?? Disillusioned, we quickly passed the cookbook off to my sister and her husband to use for one of their “Cookbook Club” dinners, an occasion that might justify the effort.
Their dinner was a success—the best one to date, Andy texted us—but the real winner was the hummus. “Worth the price of the book,” he told us; and by extension, worth the multiple steps it required to pickle some red onions and confit some garlic.
Andy’s endorsement carries real weight, so we made a batch: and now Loring Place hummus has become our house standard, so good that the kids carry it back to college after breaks, frozen and tucked into a backpack or purse. Lately we’ve been snacking on it with vegetables or using it in chicken shawarma bowls with some of the extra pickled onions.
You can find the original recipe here; or see below for a simplified version. You can make the pickled onions and garlic confit days or even weeks ahead of time (maybe tonight?) and whip up the hummus over the weekend.
Ingredients
For the pickled red onions
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1½ tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 dried red chili
1 dried bay leaf
1¾ c apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
For the garlic confit
3 heads garlic, separated into cloves, then peeled
1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
For the hummus
1 c dried chickpeas (or you can use about 3 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed and liquid discarded)
½ tsp baking soda
Kosher salt
¾ c pickled red onions (prepared above)
½ c garlic confit (prepared above)
½ c tahini, well stirred
¾ c extra-virgin olive oil (some of this can be the oil you used to cook the garlic)
¼ c fresh lemon juice
1 tsp each cumin and smoked paprika, to serve (optional)
Instructions
1. Pickled Red Onions
Place the sliced onion in a sterilized pint-size jar.
In a small skillet, toast the cumin, coriander, fennel, and mustard seeds over low heat until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Let cool, then place into a piece of cheesecloth and add the bundle to the jar along with the chili and bay leaf. (If you don’t have cheesecloth, you can put everything in the jar together but be forewarned that onion extraction is challenging later.)
In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onions. Let cool to room temperature. Let sit for at least 1 hour before using or seal the jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Garlic Confit
In a small saucepan, combine the garlic cloves and olive oil.
Cook over very low heat (the oil shouldn’t bubble) until the garlic is golden brown and very soft, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a storage container. Refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Hummus
In a bowl, cover the dried chickpeas with at least 2 inches of water. Add baking soda and 1 tbsp salt. Stir until dissolved. Soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.
Place the soaked chickpeas in a saucepan and cover with 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until very tender and starting to fall apart (45–60 minutes). Stir occasionally and skim off foam or skins. (Skip steps 1 & 2 if you are using canned chickpeas.)
Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid.
In a food processor, combine the pickled onions and garlic confit. Puree until finely chopped. Add the drained chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and 1 tbsp salt. Puree until very smooth, thinning with reserved cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt to taste.
(Optional) Pass the hummus through a fine mesh strainer for extra smoothness. Serve topped with sprinkled cumin and smoked paprika if you wish (we don’t, in either case).
