This hummus is made with the stalks of swiss chard and it closely resembles baba ghannouj in taste. It is composed of only stalks, tahini, a touch of garlic and lemon juice. It is made in the communities that prepared rolled swiss chard leaves with meat and rice stuffing; instead of throwing away the stalks (which are too thick to roll anyway), folks recycle them this way. It is served traditionally alongside the stuffed chard leaves.
You may wish to pour a light filet of olive oil on the dip, which is also traditional; the dip is served with pita bread.
In the community I was brought up in, the stalks were prepared by cutting them in inch-size pieces, boiling them and serving them with a tahini sauce. (I used to hate this dish, however, prepared this way I could eat the entire bowl).
INGREDIENTS: 4 servings as a dip
- 2 cups of cut-up swiss chard stalks
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 3 tbsp of tahini
- 1 tsp of mashed garlic
- salt, to taste
- olive oil, to garnish
- Cut the stalks of the swiss chard into half-inch pieces; place in a saucepan with a little water and boil gently (or steam) till tender. Drain and transfer to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the tahini, garlic and lemon juice and purée the mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a serving dish, add a filet of olive oil if desired and serve with pita bread.
27 Comments
Great way to use those stalks! Have so many recipes that use the leaf only. Thanks for the recipe
This hummus is great and really original! I bet it tastes really good.
Cheers,
Rosa
Love this idea!
I have got hooked on chard stalks baked with parmesan, but as I love hummus, IF I can find tahini here I will certainly give this a try. Diane
Excellent! I love recipes where nothing is going to waste!
Great idea.
Thank you
Verkin
Your recipes never cease to amaze me, Joumana. What a dish! Using the stalks is a great idea.I need to try this, soon.
Whoa, this is so unique and resourceful. Very awesome and I will be trying this one out soon.
Excellent ^^
Thank you
Kiss Mimi
I love the stalks and am excited to find a way to use them other than my usual simple boiling and eating with olive oil, salt and lemon.
Clever! I love recipes that use stuff you’d normally throw away
Wow, I love chard stalks and often saute the separately the next day after making the leaves. I copied this recipe immediately… love it. I hate people who waste good food ( like throwing away beet stalks and leaves) and applaud brilliant ways to use food that might be tossed. Brava!
Je suis curieuse… Au retour du Liban j’ai refait l’hummous pois chiche, un vrai délice avec les ingrédients rapportés et aussi celui aux aubergines mais tu me tentes !!
Très bientôt maintenant mon billet sur notre escapade au Liban !! Bises
@Senga: Je l’attends avec impatience!!! Bisous
And all of these years I have been discarding the stalks in favor of the leaves! I’ll have to check my poor deer-eaten plants to see if I have enough left to try this recipe.
So, I always discarde stalks too . i tried to add him to rice dishes but it was tasteless. Now I’ll try such way.
Thanks for another great recipe! We use a lot of chard around here, it’s a popular green in Buenos Aires, and I’m always looking for new ways to use it, especially the stalks.
Hi Joumana,
Let me first start by saying thank you for your wonderful and tasty recipes, I have been a follower for almost 2 years now.
I have a request if you may allow me, I live in Canada, I am from a lebanese background, and I truly miss the namoura and the kunafe that I grew up in Lebanon. Eventhough we are blessed here with so many lebanese pastry shop and groceries but none of them quiet taste the same as my childhood even when my mom make them. Do you have a good recipes for the namoura, the kunafa with semolina and the kunafa bread?
Thank you so much and God bless you
@Ianian: Thanks for the praise, I am honored. As far as the recipes for the nammoura, and the kunafa with semolina and the kunafa bread, do you mean the kunafa kaak? I have a couple of recipes for nammoura (one with coconut and one with cranberries) on the blog which I will link you to and I have a recipe for a mock kunafa. the real thing from the pastry shops in Lebanon is still a guarded recipe and if I succeed in getting it I will definitely share it. I am working on a cookbook in which I will include all of the above in great detail.
http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2009/03/semolina-bars-with-cranberries/
http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2009/08/semolina-and-coconut-cake/
Stay tuned for more!
Take care,
Joumana
if you like the stalk….pickle it — use the same brine as pickled asparagus, just throw in a piece of red beet into each jar otherwise the color —-well there is no color
Its the best pickle out there,,, and gets addictive easy everytime you open the fridge and see the jar just sitting there
and its great as a hostess gift
@Kathy: GREAT idea! Thanks!!
Jouman,
I meant the kunafi kaak,
Thanks so much…I am looking forward to get the book, would it be available in NA? is it in english or arabic?
Thanks alot,
Lee
Such a good idea – i usually put them in the bin which is tragic although i dont do that to asparagus stalk as i make them into a veggie stock or stained soup. will do the same now
What a fantastic use! I love the waste not, want not appeal of this dish. And I suspect that it’s very yummy too.
@Lee: The book will be in English.
This looks beautiful and presentation is very important to me. I have finished Phase II of the HCG diet and am now on Phase III, so this dish is something I can eat. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
Hello again Joumana,
I have finally tried this recipe and even posted on my blog (with the link to your blog as well!). I dont know why but the colour of my humus was more green than yours (maybe because I had more stalks than you did?) My husband loved it
Thanks for sharing.
That’s the link to the recipe I posted on my blog if you want: http://www.sofravemuhabbet.com/2013/02/pazi-sapi-ile-humus.html
Have a nice day
Ceren
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