Hummus is the popular Middle Eastern spread made from mashed chickpeas (garbanzos). It is traditionally served as an appetizer with wedges of pita bread or as an accompaniment to many Middle Eastern dishes. There are a vast variety of commercial products at your grocery that are quite good, but I find making my own fresh from scratch beats them all. Hummus very easy to make if you have a food processor or blender. The following recipe does not contain tahini, a sesame paste, that you'll find in most traditional recipes. Honestly, I've never made it with tahini, but I'll let you know when I try it.
2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 12 sea salt
3 cloves garlic, put through a press
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 t0 1 t freshly ground toasted cumin
Freshly chopped mint, for garnish
If your chick-peas are canned, thoroughly rinse them under running cold water and drain. Place the chick-peas, salt, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in the container of your food processor or blender. Process at high speed for about 10 seconds. Stop the blender and scrape down the sides of the container with a rubber spatula. Process again until the hummus is a very smooth puree, just thick enough to hold its shape in a spoon. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish chopped mint.
*Hummus has great nutritional value. It is high in vitamin C and iron and is a good source of dietary fiber. When eaten with grains or bread, it is a complete protein.
*Blue corn chips make especially good scoops for hummus.
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