Aug 7, 2013

Hummus: as simple or fancy as you like!

homemade hummusThe first hummus I ever made was probably the most time consuming, yet delicious way to make hummus. I bought every specific ingredient and soaked and sprouted the chickpeas, thus producing raw hummus.

Now I have made hummus several times, with raw or cooked chickpeas, dry or canned, and I have added anything from carrots to sweet potatoes, olives and artichoke hears, from red pepper to almonds! Uhhhh.. I wouldn't recommend carrots or almonds.. Let me not forget the great flavor of plain hummus!

Ha! So just keep in mind you can play with the ingredients depending on what you have and just add things slowly into the food processor until you have a good consistency! Adding slowly also helps keep the oil to a minimum as you see how it slowly blends.


homemade hummus recipeFor BASIC HUMMUS, all you need is

- 1-1.5 cups chickpeas (garbonzo beans)
- 1/3 cup tahini (this is the "butter" of sesame seeds)
- juice of 1-2 lemons
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3-5 cloves garlic
*measurements approximate (because I make it up as I go..)

blend in a food processor.

OPTIONAL
- a couple tbsp miso paste (comes in a small tub at health food stores)
- spices like dried jalapeno pepper, paprika, cumin..
- herbs such as dill or cilantro
- sometimes a couple tbsp water

FLAVORS
- red peppers
- artichoke hearts
- olives
- roasted sweet potato
- jalapeno
- choose you own adventure...!
- HERE is a crazy one

VOILA!


homemade hummus

*SECRET STEP - if you want super smooth hummus like at Mediterranean restaurants (you know what I'm talking about!), then you'll have to remove the fiber-y husks. Its a bit time consuming but the smooth texture tastes really nice. You can do it when your done cooking them, straight from the can, or if they're sprouted, throw some boiling water over them and swoosh around for 30 seconds then drain. Place them in a bowl of water (or not) and start popping them between your fingers, this makes the husk/shell come off! Now just do it one hundred times...

remove husks from chickpeas hummus recipe

Hummus is a healthy snack, great for vegetable or chip dipping, great in wraps, or dolloped on salads.
Here are some reasons it's okay to love it and eat it a lot!


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