You can also just make a light roux! Light roux only takes like 5-10 minutes! Peeling chickpeas does improve texture for hummus but I rarely do it. Probably you aren’t using high quality tahini or olive oil or enough lemon juice or tahini. That’s the problem with a lot of (non middle eastern) people’s hummus IMHO-- they almost never use enough tahini for me. Buy tahini at a middle eastern store or buy a middle eastern brand on Amazon! It makes a huge difference. And lots of lemon. All the lemon.
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Decent olive oil makes a huge difference IMO too. With few ingredients, each of those ingredients really needs to be good and fresh.
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Yes! My theory is that part of why middle eastern food hasn’t spread in popularity to the same degree as other cuisines is because people use subpar ingredients and then determine that it isn’t very good/flavorful. I’ve had people mention that after eating my homemade Lebanese food, like “wow it’s so flavorful! usually middle eastern food is so bland!”
But like, hummus has so few ingredients (same with kibbeh, babaghanoush, stuffed grape leaves, etc.) if you skip one or two of the ingredients and then use poor quality for another ingredient, it’s…not going to be great. Feta too, like good feta cheese tastes like champagne, bad feta cheese tastes like almost nothing. Ditto for olives, herbs, etc.
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Also, cook dry chickpeas instead of using canned, it makes all the difference. and once they are cooked then “fry” them in a pan for a couple minutes with a bit of baking soda, the skins fall right off like magic.
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That’s definitely the ideal way to do it! I sometimes use canned and I find they’re ok if everything else is really high quality, but cooking from dried is def the best.
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Yeah, I have found that the TJ’s tahini just isn’t that good!
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I know a lot of people knead flour and butter and store that in the fridge or freezer to start a roux
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the correct ratio of tahini to beans is 1:1 right? haha…probably overkill but it tastes so good with more tahini than any recipe ever calls for! Also twice as much garlic and lemon juice
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I measure tahini with my heart, hahaha. If it tastes great you added the correct amount IMO! And garlic, yes girl. Oh you know what else is good, especially if you have to compensate for cheap oil or something? Roasted red peppers.
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I would never have thought of that but that makes perfect sense!
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Now I’m hungry.
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People think Middle Eastern food is bland?!?!?!
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Yes! I mean I think falafel is pretty popular but I’ve heard that it’s not very flavorful a lot. I mean, I kind of get it if you compare it to like, Indian or Thai cuisine. There’s not a ton of heat, either. I think some of it is also only having the Americanized version of things, like tabbouleh is often mostly bulgur here with just a little chopped herbs (and basically no lemon) when authentic style tabbouleh is mostly fresh herbs with just a little bulgur. Same with hummus really being just like, bean dip? I think if you only eat grocery store type stuff it could be pretty bland!
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Yeah, it’s not hot-spicy, but it’s full of flavor! Aiyai.
I guess to be fair, I’ve basically only ever had homemade or restaurant Middle Eastern food, so… not interacting with grocery store tabbouleh.
Now I crave baba ghanoush.
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Hahaha, I love this phrasing. You go girl. Set those boundaries.
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Us, upset about non-herby tabbouleh:
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grocery store falafel reheated in a toaster oven is pretty sad that needs a lot of sauce and pickle to revive it. And there isn’t pickled turnip to go with it. Now I want pickled turnips.
menu planning
Sun: corn cakes with bacon
Mon: german potato salad with bacon
Tues: zucchini fritters
Wed: buffalo cauliflower tacos with refried beans, pickled red onion, salsa
Thurs: chicken fried rice with cabbage, ssamjang sauce
Fri: beef stew and roast sweet potato
Lunches
Potato, tuna, bocconcini, kale, sun-dried tomato, pickled red onion, tahini
White bean, tuna, pickled red onion, tomato salad
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I’m imagining you have a small emergency “break glass in case of bland falafel” case filled with sauce and pickles, lol.
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Hahaha, when I make falafel it’s like 50% herbs. 
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Mine tastes of garlic and it is inauthentic and fantastic.
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