There's a Hummus Among Us

 Hummus.  Yummmm.  JP and I love hummus.  It's good and tasty, it makes a great snack.  Funny story...when JP was about 2, we were visiting my inlaws.  My mother-in-law asked JP what he'd like for a snack.  She was expecting cookie, crackers, fruit snacks, candy, etc...stuff the other grand kids like to eat.  JP said, "I'll have some hummus, please."  She looked at him like he had 3 heads!  But alas, she didn't have any hummus and JP cried. 

I have a love/hate relationship with hummus.  I love it!  I buy it!  But I hate the price.  So I don't buy it.  I try and make it, and it doesn't taste the same, so I go back to buying it.  And the cycle continues...  So I've decided to experiment with hummus recipes and find one that I like so I can stop the hummus cycle. 

Red Pepper Hummus
2 cans Garbanzo beans, reserve 1 c. of liquid 
2 T. tahini
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 t. salt
1 T. olive oil (this is the time to break out that really good olive oil...the EVOO...the kind that has the greenish tinge to it)
1/8 t. paprika
1/2 t. cumin
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2/3 c. roasted red peppers, divided

In a food processor, whirl the beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, paprika, cumin, garlic and 1/3 c. of roasted red peppers for a few seconds to mix everything up.  Turn the food processor on and add the reserved garbanzo bean juice until the hummus is in the consistency that you like.  (I added about 3/4 c.)  Taste the hummus!  Add a little more salt/lemon juice/olive oil/etc. to make it fit your tastes.  Once it is at the right consistency and right taste, add the remaining roasted red peppers.  Whirl a few more seconds until the red pepper is in small pieces.  Refrigerate.

Serve with warm pita bread, as a dip with pretzels, use instead of mayo on sandwiches, or however you enjoy hummus!


Review:  I've finally found the right combination of ingredients for homemade hummus for our tastes.  I like having the garlic pressed before adding it to the food processor, this makes sure the garlic is really small and you don't get a great big hunk of it, that failed to get chopped.  I also like that some of the red pepper is left out until the very end, so there are small nuggets of red pepper goodness.  In other recipes, more tahini is used, and this is where I was finding the biggest problem.  This recipe has a smaller amount of tahini that still gives flavor, but is not overpowering.  Enjoy~