Garlic Hummus

Ingredients

16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans

1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas

5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

Ok, so this isn’t really what I had for dinner. I had it for lunch but I going to start incorporating it into dinner because it’s super duper healthy! Hummus is packed with protein, fiber and iron. Packed! Eating as a main dish is an excellent idea because one cup of the stuff has 60% of your daily fiber, about 1/3 of your iron, and 20 grams of protein, as well as various important minerals.

I eat it for lunch several times a week in pita bread or with cucumber slices and celery. I also use it as a veggie dip and in place of dressing on sandwiches.

No I am not a health nut. But I’m turning 39 next week and somehow had the crazy notion this would helped me erase 38 years of damage. If hummus reverses the jello shots and jagerbombs from my 20′s, I’ll let ya know! ha!

Anyway what started out as a health kick, turned into an obsession because humus is delicious!

And…humus is so easy to make yourself. Easy and FAST!

Making is cheaper than buying store made hummus. A small container of store made hummus can cost $4-5 dollars. This recipe makes almost twice as much and costs less than a dollar. It tastes amazing – better than store bought!

All you need is a blender and these items:

Oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans

Cup liquid from can of chickpeas

Tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)

Tablespoons tahini

Cloves garlic

Teaspoon salt

Tablespoons olive oil

Once you look at the ingredients, you will probably see you already have everything in your pantry and will just need the chick peas and tahini. Chick peas are also known as garbanzo beans. I’ve made hummus with dried garbanzo beans, soaking and cooking them but the results just weren’t as good. Can beans actually mash up easier and have a better texture.

Can of garbanzo beans = .79 cents.

Tahini is sesame oil and can be found at Whole Foods. It is somewhat of an investment because it costs about $5 for a jar. However the jar will make 20 batches of hummus. If you don’t plan on making hummus often, you can also find tahini at Mediterranean markets cheaper than Whole Foods and it is possible to buy in smaller quantities.

Tahini has a disgusting taste when eaten alone. But it adds a zesty tang to the hummus and is necessary. I tried to make hummus once without tahini and it just didn’t taste the same.

Hummus does have some fat due to the tahini and olive oil. However it is considered good fat. And the fat grams in these few tablespoons of oil are disbursed through an entire batch of hummus.

Here is what tahini looks like. Make sure you stir before using and refrigerate after opening.

Measure all the ingredients and dump them in the food processor. It does not matter what order. I usually put the chick peas in first and then load all the others on top.

I used extra virgin olive oil.

I also used sea salt. After once reading what is processed with table salt, I try not to eat it. I will save you all the boring details but bleach and chemicals are loaded in table salt. Yuck!

I like to go heavy on the lemon. It really brings out the flavors of the other ingredients in the hummus.

Throw the peeled garlic pieces in whole.

No need to chop or crush – let the blender do the work!

After you get it all in the blender, blend on high for one minute or until smooth.

And there ya go! All done. Ta-da!

It is ready to eat now but if you put it in the fridge a few hours or overnight it will be nice and cold and the flavors will enhance.

Here it is on tomato. Yum! Bon Appetit!

You can play with this recipe and experiment.

I sometimes change it up with different herbs and ingredients. My favorite is jalapeno!

Comments

Permalink Andie Mitchell
November 11, 2010

Hey Carrie! I adore hummus, and probably eat a container a week! Have you ever used it as a thick salad dressing? It's one of my favorite ways to eat it! Thanks for the recipe!

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