Hummus!

It's yummus.

I love this stuff. And since I'm starting a new diet "lifestyle change", I just made a huge batch of it as it is one of my "approved" foods.

As a side note, don't you just love it when nutritionists try to sell you a diet as a lifestyle change? Because they don't want you to think of it as a diet... you go "on" and "off" diets - but a lifestyle change is FOR LIFE (da dun dunnnnn!) Valid point, BUT: if you give me a list of foods that I can and cannot eat, and tell me what quantities I CAN eat.... well, sorry sugar, but that's a diet. Going forward, I prefer to think of it as this: the foods I've been eating are making me sick. If I had an allergy to a food, I'd stop eating it, because  - well, duh - it's obviously something which disagrees mightily with my body. Common sense. So, I'm changing my eating so that I am no longer sick. Eating no more bread as required on this diet may cause me to go insane and take my family with me, but there you have it. She was talking about having me go "gluten-free", but I don't think I want to explore that pathway. Yet. Let's see how "no bread, potatoes or any processed carbohydrates" flies.

Sorry for the off topic rant on the diet... but my mind works in mysterious ways.

Anyway, hummus is a lot easier to make at home than you might think.  I could literally sit down and eat this stuff with a spoon. It's a great dip, sandwich spread, ingredient in a dish, you name it.

Funnily enough, my spouse will not touch the stuff with a 10 foot pole. Yet, he loves a garbanzo bean stew I make for him. I won't touch the garbanzo bean stew with a 10 foot pole, but I will suck up every last particle of hummus I can find. Weird that we both like the chickpea but in different ways.

Recipe follows now:

1 can garbanzo beans (AKA chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp minced garlic
1-2 tbsp tahini*, depending on taste (if you like strong sesame flavor, opt for 2 tbsp)
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Add all ingredients to a food processor/blender except for the olive oil. Pulse the mixture, then gradually add the olive oil while blending until all ingredients are combined. You may want to use slightly more or less oil, depending on how the consistency looks while you are blending - it should be smooth, creamy, but not thin. A spoon should stand up in it, but it should also not be dry and chunky. And all of the chickpeas should be pulverized. Refrigerate when done.

* You may be wondering what the heck tahini is. Actually, it's a mixture of pulverized sesame seeds. I found mine in Ralph's supermarket. You may have to dig for it, as it's not a commonly used ingredient. Before you use it, make sure you stir it extremely well since the oil and the sesame seeds separate in the jar. I think mine was located near the Asian/Mexican/Jewish food section of the store.

Hope you enjoy it - it's much cheaper to make at home and I like to do it because I control what goes into it.