From My Kitchen Once Again

Years ago, a good friend introduced me to a Mediterranean food staple I’d never tried: hummus. At the time, I believe we ate it with crackers. In the meantime, I’ve tried a couple of other people’s recipes (although I find few people make their own) and commercially prepared hummus. By far, homemade hummus beats anything I’ve eaten from the store. Of course, this is my personal taste.

However, recently I made it for some friends. One of them had told me she didn’t really care for hummus, but would give it a try. We ate it with pita chips as I’ve done over the years (substituting these for crackers).

She liked it.

Here is my simple recipe for hummus. If you need any encouragement to try hummus, consider a high-fiber dip made with healthy oils. It’s much less fatty than veggie or chip dips and you can go online to find several variations of the basic recipe. Buying Tahini will be a seldom practice unless you use it in other recipes, but it has a pretty long shelf life. You’ll need to stir the Tahini before using due to separation of the natural oils.

Traditional Hummus

• 31 oz. canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water (or enough to achieve a smooth paste)
• 1/4 cup sesame paste (Tahini)
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Place beans and garlic in a food processor or blender; pulse 5 times or until chopped. Add 1/2 cup water and remaining ingredients; pulse/blend until smooth, scraping down sides as needed.

Yields about 2 cups; 12 servings of 2 tbsp. each.

Hummus isn’t just for eating with crackers or pita chips. I also use it for dipping celery, carrots, broccoli, pepper strips and cauliflower. I’ve even used it in a whole grain pita pocket with veggies and cheese for a healthy sandwich. Use your imagination and eat hardy!

A variation of this recipe, if you like some ‘bite’: Add 2 tsp. chili paste (or to taste), 1/2 tsp. paprika and 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper.