Bonus Saturday Recipe – Hummus!

As pita bread is my witness – I am never buying hummus again!
What the heck is in hummus that makes it so expensive in the store? A good premade brand is over $5.00 a pound and the store made stuff at the fancy-schmancy gourmet grocery is nearly $8 a pound. The reason they charge so much is because of people like me – lazy people. The only ingredient that is difficult to track down is the tahini, which is sesame seed paste. That same gourmet store has a 12 ounce jar of tahini for about 5 bucks. That might sound a bit pricey until you realize that a batch of hummus only uses 3 tablespoons of tahini, and a 12 ounce jar is going to last awhile.

So – what mysterious ingredients make hummus so expensive anyway? Here is what you need:
1 15 oz can of chick peas/garbanzo beans
1 large clove garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons tahini
salt to taste

Drain the chick peas, but save the liquid and measure out about 1/3 cup of it. Put that liquid and the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process for 2 to 5 minutes until very smooth. If it is too thick, add a bit more of the liquid from the chick peas. Here is an exciting action shot straight from my kitchen – the hummus whirling around in my my cheap but serviceable processor.
I think I like this shot better though
So that was tough huh? All that arduous processing! One thing I like to do that does stretch the time needed just a bit is to slice the garlic very very thin, put it and the olive oil in the recipe in a small saute pan over very low heat for a few minutes to bring out a bit more flavor. It also smooths the garlic out some which is kind of important with this garlic which Larry buys from a guy at work. He grows it in partnership with his Dad and it’s the most flavorful garlic I have ever had, but it can be a bit much raw, in something like this. And of course, you can adjust the flavors to suit your taste – more lemon, less tahini etc. This is a very basic recipe too – you can add roasted red pepper, diced jalapenos, grilled, chopped eggplant or whatever else you think might be good. Now get going – you still have time to get some made before cocktail hour!