Thursday, February 24, 2011

There's A Hummus Among Us!


Another tried-and-true recipe today.   I've been making this hummus since I first got married almost 12 years ago.  I found it on the Internet, of course...  It's the first hummus I ever tasted and it's still my favorite.  It's super quick to make if you've got some canned or leftover garbanzos lying around.

Hummus
1 1/2 C cooked garbanzo beans
3 T tahini (sesame paste)
3 T lemon juice
2 T vegetable oil
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t ground cumin
1/8 t salt
Place ingredients in a food processor and puree.
* Variation: Add 1/4 C chopped scallions & Tabasco to taste.

My substitutions/additions:
  • I never put the tahini in.  At first it was because I couldn't find it, but then I found I didn't like it anyway.  Too bitter. 
  • I have never used scallions, though I bet shallots would be great, too.  I do sometimes add some onion.  I've never done the Tabasco sauce.  'Cuz why?
  • I put in 1 tsp cumin because we like it at our house, and usually a little more salt, too.
  • You can use all veg oil or all olive oil if you run out of one or the other.
  • I've also had pretty good luck substituting white beans for the garbanzos when I've run out.


Tips:
  • Up until a few months ago, I never owned a food processor.  A hand blender (a.k.a. emulsion blender) was my tool of choice for this.  A regular blender would probably do a pretty good job, too.
  • For many years, I used canned garbanzo beans for this, one regular size can is almost 1 1/2 Cups, close enough for this house, anyway.  Recently, I've started pressure cooking organic dried beans to get rid of some of the salt.  Unsoaked garbanzos take 30-40 minutes in a pressure cooker.
Review:
This one has never steered us wrong.  I've even converted a couple of hummus haters with this one.  I like it with carrots but you could use it as dip for any vegetable and serve it with pita bread, of course.  It's also good as a condiment on a sandwich.  It's a keeper!

4 comments:

  1. I love hummus. So much. The kids even eat it. I've never made it though. Maybe I should try!

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  2. My kids love hummus. You might not put the onion in though, the boys tend to think it's too "spicy." I'm not a big fan of sneaking food on kids, but I bet you could put it into a sandwich and they wouldn't even know it was there... Just don't put jelly on it and tell them it's peanut butter... That would be bad...

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  3. how can I make it sun dried tomato basil?

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  4. OK, first I'd cut back or completely eliminate the cumin. Then try adding some oil packed sun-dried tomatoes and 3-4 leaves of fresh basil before you mix everything up. Alternately, they make sun-dried tomato paste. You could try 1/4-1/2 tsp to start instead of the oil-packed tomatoes. Also, I'm a little concerned the flavor of the garbanzos might be too strong, you might want to go with a white bean instead. Cannellinis are good, but any white bean will do. And when I think of sun-dried tomatoes, I always think of toasted pine nuts. Using them as a garnish or even adding them into the mix might be nice. Sounds interesting! Let me know how it goes!

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