Hummus to Halva comprises a series of recipes from a Levantine Kitchen. Levantine, which comes from the French word “levant”, to rise, refers to the Eastern Mediterranean – where the sun rose. The recipes are typical Mediterranean mezze fare and hummus, falafel, chickpeas, tahini and eggplant feature heavily.
This book is written by Ronen Givon, an Israeli who grew up on a Kibutz eating Hummus with everything and Christian Mouysset, half-French, half-English who first ate hummus when he went to University. Together they’ve created recipes that are meant to be enjoyed with friends and family, eaten with pita or flatbread as your utensil to mop up the hummus and its accompaniments – no knifes and forks.
I love hummus and was delighted when I realised that my perfect hummus recipe was near identical to theirs (I do however wish I had read their guide on achieving the perfect hummus swirl before sharing my recipe). That is why I chose not to share a hummus recipe, although I loved the many they shared and the many ways they top it.
For those that love hummus, falafels, flatbreads and Israeli style salads – this is the cookbook for you! It is filled with them along with some delicious sauces (i.e. a yellow and green chilli sauce which I have bookmarked to make). It is a cookbook that is more savoury than sweet. One that features hummus, not halva (which popped up only a few times at the end of the book). It is a cookbook I love and plan on making good use out of. Most recipes are plant based with the occasional meat or dairy ingredient popping up, making it a recipe book vegetarians and vegans could get a lot of use out of.
The recipe I’m sharing is one for Tabouleh, a classic Levantine side dish. Bulghur wheat is an underrated and underused grain. It is similar to couscous, but chewier and a bit lighter. This salad is the perfect side salad to any dish, but pairs especially well with falafels and a big bowl of hummus. They added half a pomegranate seeded. As I couldn’t find any I left that out, but add it in if you can!
Tabouleh from Hummus to Halva
Ingredients
- 100 grams Bulghur Wheat
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- cracked salt and pepper
- 25 grams fresh mint finely chopped
- 55 grams fresh flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 2 plum tomatoes finely diced
- 1/4 cucumber diced
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook the Bulghur wheat according to package instructions and let cool completely.
- Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice and cracked salt and pepper.
- Add the cooked and cooled bulghur wheat to a salad bowl and pour over the dressing. Stir together.
- Add the chopped herbs, tomatoes, cucumber and spring onion to the salad bowl and stir together with the Bulghur wheat. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve as a side or together with falafel and hummus.
Hummus to Halva was given to us by Jonathan Ball Publishers and is available here. Jonathan Ball Publishers nor the author approved or reviewed this piece prior to publication. Opinions + images are our own. Recipe is reprinted with permission.
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