A Trip to Richmond with Sabra

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Holy hummus.

Earlier this year, I had the chance to meet the Sabra team – along with half of the Sabra Tastemakers for this year – and spend some time learning all about hummus in my own state of Virginia! Apparently, Virginia is for Hummus Lovers, too.

First of all, did you know that Sabra is making all kinds of things now? They’ve got salsas, salads, guacamole, and these veggie dips that are my new favorite. They even make the yogurt base for the dips – you can’t get any better than that.

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A big part of trip to Richmond was to see their offices and to take a tour of the factory to see exactly how our favorite hummus is made. Being able to see how food gets from the farm to my kitchen is really exciting to me – I mean, the first show I got hooked on The Food Network was Unwrapped, so I’m always interested to see the process of how things are made and packaged.

After walking into the Sabra building, the first thing I noticed was how light and airy and beautiful the space was. The offices and kitchen area were separated by a little courtyard where sunlight was streaming in and there were seats for employees to sit and enjoy the space. I think all offices need an area like this! It felt so open and inviting – I was ready to just move in. Especially once I saw the kitchen.

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On top of seeing the workspace and taking a tour of the factory, we had a hummus-based/inspired lunch, made the Sabra chef herself. All 16(!) flavors of hummus were out to sample, along with all their other salsas and dips, and we certainly made a meal out of it.

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But the highlight of lunch was this spice cake made with – you guessed it – hummus! And a tahini glaze that was out of this world. I can’t wait to make this at home this fall.

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And did I mention they were filming all this? I’m still not sure exactly how this footage is going to be used, but if I find out, I’ll let you guys know! The entire crew was so fun to spend time with.

While we were touring the actual factory, we weren’t allowed to take our cameras, but I will say this: everything was super efficient, insanely clean, and it smelled like chickpeas. And we got to wear hairnets! Not a bad place to spend the afternoon.

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After lunch and our factory tour, we had the chance to visit a farm outside the city where they’re testing chickpea growth right here in Virginia. Chickpeas aren’t normally grown here, so part of this trial is testing different varieties of chickpeas to see which ones (if any) grow well enough to begin growing them close to the factory. It was a beautiful day to visit the farm.

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See the chickpea? I had never seen one like this, pulled straight out of the ground. Maybe we should grow chickpeas next year?! J/k. I’ll save that for the experts. It’s hard enough for me to keep up with tomatoes.

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I’m so happy to be a part of the Sabra Tastemakers for this year – make sure to check out the other Tastemakers for more information and hummus recipes. The trip was one of the best parts my year so far, and I’m happy I was able to visit and learn more about our favorite hummus and the company.

Want more hummus recipes? Here’s a few of my favorites:

Z’atar Spiced Chicken and Pasta Salad

Hummus and Olive Flatbread Pizza

Hashbrown Crusted Ham, Hummus and Feta Quiche

Tastemakers-Panel

I am part of the Sabra Tastemakers for 2013. My trip and post was sponsored by Sabra – all opinions are my own. 

3 comments

  1. What a fun trip!! I love hummus and I love that you got to see the chickpeas in the ground!!

  2. So much hummus… SO much love!! I’m so happy Sabra is making guac now, too. Looks like such a cool trip! :)

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