Hummus

Hummus

Yield: Makes 1 1/2 cups (serving size: 2 tablespoons)

Ingredients
1 (16-oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ablespoon olive oil (optional)
Garnish: lemon slice

Preparation
Process first 6 ingredients and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and chill 2 hours or up to 3 days. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil just before serving, if desired. Garnish, if desired.

Spicy Cilantro-Lime Hummus

Prepare recipe as directed, substituting lime juice for lemon juice, increasing ground red pepper to 1/2 teaspoon, and adding 1/3 cup firmly packed chopped fresh cilantro and 2 teaspoons grated lime rind to the ingredients in food processor bowl. Garnish hummus with 1/8 teaspoon grated lime rind, if desired.

Per serving (2 tablespoons): Calories 89; Fat 6.3g (sat 0.9g, mono 4.4g, poly 0.8g); Protein 1.5g; Carb 6.9g; Fiber 1.3g; Chol 0mg; Iron 0.5mg; Sodium 92mg; Calc 11mg.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Prepare recipe as directed, omitting ground cumin and adding 1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped, and 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves to the ingredients in food processor bowl. Garnish hummus with dried crushed red pepper flakes, if desired.

Per serving (2 tablespoons): Calories 90; Fat 6.3g (sat 0.9g, mono 4.4g, poly 0.8g); Protein 1.5g; Carb 7.1g; Fiber 1.3g; Chol 0mg; Iron 0.4mg; Sodium 92mg; Calc 13mg.

Hve to check when I get home, but i make it alot. Drain a can of chick peas put in a food processor with Tahini (seame paste), garlic , lemon juice and olive oil for the basic mixture, better yey check out this site:

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/middleeasternfood101/a/hummus101.htm

Frank

soak overnight, drain, rinse and cook chickpeas (they taste way better than store bought and freeze well when you cook them! We do a HUGE pot each time and freeze cup sized portions in freezer bags for the next time we need chickpeas - which is often and alot)
drain them but keep some water.

Add as much as you want to the blender - I usually do 2-3cups
Add 4-5 cloves of garlic (you can always add more! I usually do around 6-7)
1 tbsp or so of Tahini (if it isnt "nutty" enough when done you can add a bit more - I find that I never need more than 3 tbsps to a blenderfull)
Lemon juice to taste and for some liquid. (I use anywhere from one to three lemons depending on how much I make and how I am feeling)

Blend these up - taste - adjust accordingly. You can use some of the chickpea water to "thin" out the hummus if you want to - I used to use olive oil to help with this - now I just use the water from cooking the chickpeas and I havnt found that it impacts the taste alot, the texture a little (less "silky"), but not the taste.

The great thing about hummus is that you can play with it until you get what YOU want. I sometimes add cayane pepper or parsley to it as well. I have also added a small amount of Feta brine - but that is really salty! Experiment - the basics are chickpeas/tahini/garlic/lemon - after that its up to you!

We make this in large blenderfulls and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.