Who's The Dip? How to Make Hummus

As the heat rises, my laziness extends in all directions. That's not to mean I don't have weird moments of nesting, like the other night when-instead of tucking my eldest into bed-I cleaned her room top to bottom (even dusting!). But I'm not so very interested in cooking every meal right now. We've been doing a lot of this actually. Which led me to whip up a large batch of hummus to dip and spread on everything (even in the middle of night apparently).

According to Wikipedia--

Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6.^[16] The chickpeas make it a good source of protein anddietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the chickpeas. Depending on the recipe, hummus carries varying amounts of monounsaturated fat.^[17] Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets; like other combinations of grains and pulses, it serves as a complete protein when eaten with bread.

I--per usual--used dried chick peas for my hummus, soaking them overnight and boiling them until they were soft before continuing. You can, however, use a couple of cans of chick peas if you so desire, making sure to drain and rinse them.

This recipe makes a fair amount of spread so it's great for parties too. I've been spreading it on wraps and crackers for Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thing 2 in particular is pretty fond of the stuff, licking it off chips and crackers, then handing them back to me for "re-fills."



Ok, so back to the hummus. If you are using dried, figure half a bag. If you are using canned, 2 15 oz cans should do the job. Here's what else you'll need...

Stir up your tahini
before using it. It will
be thick, like
peanut butter.

2 lemons or 1/2 cup of lemon juice
2-5 cloves of garlic, based on your preference. I used diced garlic and I like a lot so I had about 2 heaping teaspoons
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (and pepper if you like)
1/2 (approximate) cup of water (this is more a give or take based on how thick your hummus is)
1/2 cup tahini (look in your Ethnic food aisle at the grocery store--it's ground roasted sesame seed ground up like peanut butter and it's WONDERFUL).

why, yes-those are finger marks
from me "testing" the hummus

Pull out the food processor and dump in the peas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, half the oil, salt and pepper and blend it all up smooth. Remove the top of the processor and stir so you know you are getting the top and bottom blended well. Check the flavor to see if you want more of anything and add in some water before blending again.



You're done. Yep, that's what the lady said.

I pretty much can't get enough of this stuff.

When serving hummus, feel free to drizzle a bit of nice olive oil over the top-this serves two purposes really-flavor and keeping the top from drying out. You can also sprinkle a bit of fresh chopped herbs for a pretty display for parties.



Refrigerate any leftovers. In the meantime, dip or spread your hummus everywhere--pita chips, multigrain crackers, cucumber slices, carrot sticks, salad wraps--go on with your bad self.