Garlicky Hummus

Sorry it’s been a while.  A few days ago, I finally pulled it together and wrote a post about this amazing hummus that I made, well, a long time ago, and just as I finished writing it, I clicked save, and WordPress went ahead and ate my post.  I had flashbacks to late nights in college involving lots of coffee and last-minute papers.  I suppose it’s been too long since those days, because I forgot the cardinal rule of writing anything longer than will fit on a post-it note: SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.  So after crafting a nicely worded, polished post… I threw in the towel.  Nothing’s more depressing than trying to re-do something you just finished.  But something good did come out of my misery.  Writing the post made me crave this hummus again.  So I figured re-writing about it for you all could wait, and I made myself another batch instead.  And then I sat down and ate the majority of it with some pita chips and cucumber slices.  It was so, so good.  And now I feel a bit selfish.  Because, really, you should know about how easy it is to make out-of-this-world hummus, too.  

So I’m not going to attempt to re-write my last post, even though there was a cute little story in it.  I’ll save it for another day.  But here is the rundown on this hummus: It’s totally delicious.  It’s insanely simple to make.  It’s in a whole different league than store-bought hummus- you’ll never want that stuff again.  It’s creamy, nutty, smooth, light, garlicky, and bright all at the same time; it’s a flavor explosion. It’s healthy, which lots of protein healthy fats, vitamins, etc.  Did I mention it’s delicious?

So that, in a nutshell, is the moral of the hummus story.  Turns out my original post might have been a little too wordy, because I pretty much told you everything you needed to know about the hummus in that one little paragraph.  So I guess my little snafu saved you some blog-reading time, which is great, because now you’ll have more time for hummus-making.  Trust me, you’ll want to take advantage of that.  Now… go forth and make hummus!

Garlicky Hummus

The original recipe I found on The Wednesday Chef called for a mortar and pestle, a food mill, soaking and cooking beans, etc.  I made it that way the first time, and it was great.  This is the second incarnation, and I’m telling you, it’s every bit as good and about half of the work. Doing everything in a food processor, and using canned chickpeas are the keys to this simplified recipe.  I also added a bit more garlic, because I just really love garlic.  If you don’t suffer from the same infatuation, you can use a few less cloves.

adapted from The Wednesday Chef

1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzos), or about 1 can

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled

3/4 cup sesame seed paste (tahini)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

paprika

2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro

2 teaspoons olive oil

In a large food processor, pulse garlic and salt until the garlic is very finely chopped. Add the tahini and lemon juice and process until white and thickened. Add 1/2 cup of water and process until it’s nice and smooth.

Add the chickpeas to the sesame paste mixture and process until well-blended. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and lemon juice, if needed.  To serve, sprinkle with paprika and parsley and drizzled with oil.