Hummus

Back in July, we moved from a townhouse to a condo about 5 miles away. In doing so, we switched grocery stores. Ever since then, I have been trying to find the tahini in my new grocery store so that I could make hummus. I do have a tahini-free hummus recipe, but it's not quite as good when you leave it out, so I kept looking. I have looked with the peanut butter (that's where it was in my old store), in the "ethnic foods" section, in the condiments aisle, and pretty much everywhere. But I couldn't find it.

Recently, while searching for raw sugar in the organic/ health food section, I finally found it!



No choice of brands or packaging, of course, but this would have to do!

Hummus is basically mashed up chickpeas with tahini (sesame seed paste) for flavor and consistency, along with whatever extras you add - I use lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and cumin. To get the consistency right, I always reserve the juice from the canned chickpeas and add it gradually to the mixture until it's creamy enough.



This is such a fast and healthy snack. Throw everything in the food processor until it's smooth, and you're good to go. I like to put it in a gladware container so I can keep it in the fridge when I'm not snacking on it, and I'll add a dribble of olive oil and sprinkle of paprika on top just to make it look fancy.



When I'm feeling indulgent, I'll pick up some pitas, cut them up, and zap them in the microwave until they're warm. I'd do this if I were serving the hummus as an appetizer for company.



On a daily basis, though, I use it as a dip for my baby carrots and any other fresh vegetables that I'm snacking on. So delicious, and so much cheaper than store-bought hummus.

Someday I will teach myself to roast a red pepper and add that to the mixture. Until then, though, this is my healthy snack.

I've already had this recipe printed so I'm not going to add it to my recipe book in the widget on the right, but I'll share it with you if you send me your email address.