Making Hummus

As mentioned in my previous post, I love hummus! And if anybody wants to try making it, please do not be intimidated! It takes a grand total of five minutes and stays good stored in the refrigerator for over a week. Hummus is a food that allows you to get in touch with your inner-creativity and make it taste exactly how you want it to taste. I never use a recipe -- I simply alter as I go until it’s just right.

There are many varieties of hummus out there, and if you search any of the recipe websites I’m sure you’ll be able to find a dozen or so that sound worthy of trying. I’ve seen variations with roasted tomatoes, lemon & basil, etc. The recipe I am posting is for basic hummus with tahini (sesame paste), which is the only kind I’ve made because I am so in love with the rich fullness of the sesame flavor. My favorite Lebanese restaurant in town makes to-die-for hummus and theirs is loaded with tahini, more than I’ve ever tasted in any other hummus. It’s amazing.

Basic ingredients:

• 1/4 C. Tahini (usually found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store)
• 1 tsp. Lemon juice
• 1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas (same thing)
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
• 1-2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. Salt

 Drain garbanzo beans and reserve the liquid.  Put beans and garlic (to your liking, but I use about 1 Tbs = 1 clove) in a food processor and give it a whirl to break up the beans (it helps everything to mix in better later, at least in my machine!).  Add in a scant 1/4 C. of Tahini (you can always add more later), about 1 tsp. of Lemon juice, a couple swirls of Olive oil (probably 1 Tbsp to start), a dash of salt (no more than 1/8 tsp. to start with), and a few drizzles of the reserved bean juice.  Blend it all together, adding more Olive oil or reserved juice as necessary based on the desired consistency. 

After adding in the beginning amounts, take a taste and see what you think.  Keep adding more of those ingredients until it's to your liking -- more tahini for a stronger sesame flavor, more garlic if you're looking for an extra kick, more salt if it needs it (but over-salting hummus is gross -- trust me, I know this), etc.  The options are pretty endless on this one and it's nearly impossible to mess up!

In case you haven't noticed, this is not an exact science!!! I tend to like my hummus as bit thicker than what you would purchase in the grocery store, but that's just me. I've come to the conclusion there is no right or wrong way to make it. I know you can also experiment with adding chili powder and cumin to the hummus, but I haven't tried that yet. I even saw a recipe for peanut butter hummus, but I don't know if I've brave enough for that one...

When I'm all done, it usually looks something like this (can you tell presentation isn't my strong-point?).  Sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner, depending on my mood when I was whipping it up. 

This is great on wraps, sandwiches, as a dip with veggies, on pitas, or even on grilled cheese (yum!).  Do you have any other ideas of what we could use it on?