Hummus Vow

I vow to you, dear readers, (deep breath in, shoulders back, chin up), to never again buy store-bought hummus.

Goodbye athenos, goodbye sabra, goodbye white bean trader's joes hummus.  I am tired of settling for bland, boring hummus, out of general laziness. I have a food processor, and hummus only takes a couple of minutes to make. No excuses.

This basic hummus recipe is from one of my very favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. If Deb says to peel the skin off of chickpeas, as crazy and time consuming as it sounds, I'll at least try it once. I think this recipe is a winner, as I had to smack Josh's hands away so I would have some left for my work friends! After tasting it at work today, I would recommend adding a little more olive oil before serving as mine got a little dry. Also, the quality of the tahini really makes the hummus, and some brands of tahini have a more toasted flavor, so find one that you like. As always, bon appetite! 

Ethereally Smooth Hummus

From Smitten Kitchen

Makes  1¾ cups hummus (recipe doubles easily)

1 can chickpeas (15oz), I use Goya brand

½ cup tahini paste

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 small cloves garlic, minced

¾ tsp salt

¼ cup water

topping – olive oil, paprika

Snacks for dipping – carrots, celery, homemade pita chips, etc.

1. Rinse and peel your chickpeas.  Just take a chickpea between your thumb and next two fingers, arranging the pointy end in towards your palm, and “pop!” the naked chickpea out. Discard the skin.

2. In a food processor, blend the chickpeas until powdery clumps form, a full minute, scraping down the sides. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt and blend until pureed. With the machine running, drizzle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get very smooth, light and creamy mixture. I find I need about 4 tablespoons for this volume, but you may need slightly more or less.

3. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt or lemon if needed. Transfer the hummus to a bowl and rest it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer if you can. To serve, drizzle it with a little olive oil, and sprinkle it with paprika. Serve with dipping snacks.