Yummy Hummus

**cali baker** · 09-16-2012, 08:17 AM

How could something so creamy delicious also be pretty healthy for you? That's what I wondered to myself as I dipped my celery stick into the mound of garbanzo bean delightfulness I whipped up the other day. Garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas, have been called the "fiber all star" because they are rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber. This recipe comes from my How To Cook Everything cookbook by Mark Bittman. The nice thing about hummus is, you can alter the amounts of ingredients any which way you'd like depending on your own personal taste. Enjoy!

Hummus recipe:
2 cups canned chickpeas, well drained
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)--can be found at Middle Eastern Grocer or check the ethnic food section of store
1/4 cup sesame oil or olive oil
1 small clove garlic, peeled (I used 1 teaspoonful of garlic powder)
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin, or to taste
Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed
About 1/3 cup water or as needed
1 teaspoon olive oil, approximately

1. Place everything except water and 1 teaspoon olive oil in container of a food processor and begin to process; add water as needed to make a smooth puree.
2. Taste and add more garlic, salt, lemon juice, or cumin as needed. Serve, drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of cumin.
3. Eat joyfully!

**TraciInTexas** · 09-16-2012, 08:37 AM

Half a CUP of Tahini? That is a LOT.

Do you really eat it with that much? or is this a cut/paste recipe?

**cali baker** · 09-16-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by TraciInTexas

Half a CUP of Tahini? That is a LOT.

Do you really eat it with that much? or is this a cut/paste recipe?

Yes, I use 1/2 cup Tahini. I don't think that's really that much and you can always adjust it to your liking; i find the sesame flavor comes out well with that amount. I got this from the Mark Bittman cookbook which stated the same amount. You know, some peeps also use peanut butter in place of Tahini (just an FYI).

**cali~jenn** · 09-16-2012, 09:42 AM

Oooh I love hummus and never eat it, thinking this will be made soon.

**cali baker** · 09-16-2012, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by cali~jenn

Oooh I love hummus and never eat it, thinking this will be made soon.

Yes, make it soon! it goes with lots of things, not just veggies. I love hummus

**TraciInTexas** · 09-16-2012, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by cali baker

Yes, I use 1/2 cup Tahini. I don't think that's really that much and you can always adjust it to your liking; i find the sesame flavor comes out well with that amount. I got this from the Mark Bittman cookbook which stated the same amount. You know, some peeps also use peanut butter in place of Tahini (just an FYI).

Hm. I'll have to try that. We've always made it with a Tablespoon or so... and our recipe came with us from when we lived in the Middle East. I've never thought to alter the Tahini, although we have tripled the garlic in ours... mebbe I will try upping the Tahini on the next batch, if you like it that way. Worth a sample, right?

**cali baker** · 09-16-2012, 03:54 PM

Traci, do you use the same amount of garbanzo beans in your recipe? I would love to know how you make your hummus! Cutting back on the tahini would be great if the end product will still taste delicious...less fat and calories so more hummus to eat

Plus, i could eat garlic cloves raw so the more garlic the better for me.

**TraciInTexas** · 09-18-2012, 10:33 AM

Eh. Ours is more by taste than anything... My Mom has the original recipe, but it included dried chickpeas and soaking them overnight, etc. I am the Queen of Shortcut, so my version is a lazy evolution of the original, based up on our personal taste(s). My daughter makes it differently than I do... LOL!

I would guess that the basic recipe for ME is:

2 big cans (they come in something like 15-16 oz) of chickpeas, drained & rinsed, but save about 1 C of their liquor
Garlic, diced finely (or I used the jarred stuff, so my light-T is about 3 cloves-worth?)
T or so of Tahini
3-4 lemons-worth of juice (also good with limes)
1/4 C olive oil
1/4-1/2 t sea salt (to taste, I am unable to eat much salt, my eyes PUFF)

Dump about half of the chickpea liquid in the bottom of the food processor, add peas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, oil and salt.
Pulse it a few times. See if you need to add more liquid pea juice to keep it moving, you can also add more oil or lemon.
Blend until pasty smooth.
Taste.
And the adjustments begin, based upon who feels like what that day... LOL!

Dear Hubby likes a few dashes of Cayenne Pepper. I want to try Cali-Baker's addition of cumin!

I buy it in the store occasionally, and theirs comes with pine nuts on it... I've pine nuts, but don't add them often - but when I DO, I let them pulse quickly so its little lumps of nut in the hummus.

Serves well with tortilla (instead of pitas) or as a veggie dip or even as a chip-dip.

(We have actually messed it up to the point that we had to add another can of peas to level the flavor back out! LOL!)