No More Ho-Hum Hummus

Hello? Any extremely loyal Pinch of Page followers out there? Well Hi there! Nice to see you again.

So much time has passed since my last post and I shamefully admit to cooking some new and yummy foods without adding them to the site. Now that my Little One has grown some and I’ve gotten the hang of Motherhood (for now) I thought I’d finally return to the blogging world and share some of my more recent culinary escapades with you.

I begin with my recipe for hummus, which I’ve made countless times without ever taking a proper photo of the finished product. It’s okay, you’ve all seen hummus before. The recipe I created was a hummus hail mary of sorts – I had one shot to convince my husband that chick pea dip can in fact be delicious. Somehow I came up with a recipe for my very favorite hummus ever. Give it a try and see what you think.

Traditional Hummus

Depending on where you live, tahini (sesame seed paste) can be tricky to find.  Here in Yuma, AZ, I finally located it in the Asian food section of a local grocery store chain (Fry’s).  I almost always double the recipe below, as any leftovers will last in the fridge and will make for a healthy go-to snack or sandwich spread.

• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 can chick peas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (about 2 lemons worth)
• Good-sized handful fresh parsley
• Ground red pepper to taste
• Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Very finely mince the garlic cloves.  Pour 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the minced garlic and press down on it with the tip of the flat side of a large knife.  Mince the garlic more if necessary.  Mush the garlic more with side of knife, pressing it until you have a garlic/salt paste.  Put your paste in food processor with the other 1/2 teaspoon salt, chick peas, tahini, water, honey, and lemon juice and process for a good while until the hummus is completely smooth.  Add the red pepper and parsley and pulse until combined, adjusting the spice as necessary.  Pour hummus into a serving bowl and drizzle the top with olive oil if you prefer.

This is my version of your basic hummus but I have to say that it did make a believer out of my husband.  He now requests that I always have the ingredients on hand!  I have dipped into it with crudites, smeared it on sandwiches, and even spread it on pita bread, topped with roasted veggies and feta cheese, and baked it for a Mediterranean ‘pizza’.  It is a touch sweet, a touch spicy, and all healthy. Enjoy…