Middle East - Hindi - Costa Rica Fusion Vegetarian Recipe

I was bored the other day and had some garbanzo beans on hand and made a variation of hummus from garbanzo beans.  This was accompanied by a cheese, a homemade bread and what resembled what is called chimichurri in Costa Rica.  All together these made a very tasty combination which was very suitable to serve for lunch during the hot summer weather we are having. 

First, I will give you my variation of hummus that I used.  We didn't have any tahini on hand, but I did have some sesame seeds and I ground them up in my coffee grinder to make homemade tahini.  (The ground-up seeds had a more loose texture than commercial tahini.) 

Hummus ingredients a la Costa Rica

• 4 cups of well-cooked garbanzo beans
• 3/4 cup of ground sesame seeds or 1/2 cup of tahini
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice (I used Mandarin limes which are orange)
• 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice (from a green orange)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 small garlic cloves and a teaspoon of garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• parsley sprigs

Add the all of the ingredients except the paprika and parsley to a blender or food processor.  Grind until smooth.  I may have added a little more orange juice to make the mixture a more fluid. You can do the same if needed.  Use the paprika and parsley sprigs to garnish the hummus in its serving dish.

Chimichurri a la Mediteranea

This is basically tomatoes and onions in lime juice, but I add a few extra touches to enhance the flavor experience and make it more Middle-Eastern.  Prepare this about an hour before serving all of the dishes of this meal.  Here are the ingredients:

• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons of parsley chopped fine
• juice of two limes
• dash of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil

Add all of the ingredients and let them sit together for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Naan Bread

Follow the recipe for naan bread on almost any link you can find on the Internet.  It is a simple bread that you make and allow to rise for an hour, make into balls and then flatten them out to grill for a few minutes on each side to cook.  You can also substitute flour tortillas for convenience.

Cheese

 The final ingredient of this meal is a white immature cheese.  I chose a cheese that is common in Costa Rica that is a little on the dry side and it is used for smoking.  It does not have a strong taste, but it complements acidic hummus and chimchurri salad very well.  I just grated the cheese to prepare it for the meal.  There are many cheeses that you could consider as a substitute, but I am thinking of feta as an exceptional because of its unique flavor. 

Putting It All Together For A Meal

Serving this is simple; have the hummus, cheese and chimichurri served in separate dishes.  Each person puts a little of each on their plate and uses a spoon to put portions of each on the naan bread or tortillas.  A drink that goes well with this is iced tea; but, if you were going to make the meal in Costa Rica, it would be more common to make a fruit-flavored drink with pineapple, blackberry or even watermelon.

Bon apetit! or ¡Aproveche! as they say in Costa Rica!

Reference

How to Make Chimichurri.