Humble Hummus

I had never heard of hummus until a couple of years ago.  Even then, the store-bought, flavored versions I kept trying impulsively always left me regretting the purchase and washing it down with an obscene amount of diet coke.  Until, like so many other things (recently, my sushi experience), I decided to make hummus myself and see if the disapproval would dissipate.  There were no fireworks until a few many recipe tweaks later and now, not only does my husband do back flips when he sees the note "hummus in fridge", I am such a firm believer in this simple and easy mushy paste, I know I will make homemade hummus until I can no longer spell it correctly.  You're skeptical too, aren't you?  See for yourself:

The very simple ingredients.  (Minus olive oil, not pictured)

Very simple steps.  The only thing you need a knife for is slicing the lemon-I love recipes with no chopping!!  Dump all in a food processor or chopper or blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender-no need to be picky, it just needs to get pureed.  

Add olive oil or the garbanzo liquid as needed to help the puree process.  

And there we have it!  I like to sprinkle some paprika on top at the end.  I believe this should keep up to a week and a half, although it never sticks around that long in my fridge.

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1/3 C tahini (sesame seed paste-found in the Mediterranean/Indian section of the grocery store)
juice of one lemon, seeds removed after juicing
8-10 dashes of tabasco sauce
kosher salt, add as desired (I usually put in 1/4-1/2 teaspoon)
olive oil as needed (I usually end up adding quite a few tablespoons)
(side note: a common ingredient in hummus is garlic but due to my husband's taste buds, it is left out.  feel free to add a clove of fresh garlic if you'd like!)

Blend until pureed with small chunks (if more liquid is needed, use olive oil or the reserved liquid from the garbanzos).  Sprinkle with paprika.  You can always add roasted red peppers or olives or pesto to your hummus if you love it flavored.  Try it plain first-you may be whistling a different tune.

A rough price comparison, if you're curious: $.85 for the garbanzo beans, $3 for the tahini (I get about 4-5 batches out of one jar), so $.60 for the tahini divided, $.30 for the lemon and pennies for the salt, olive oil and tabasco.  All together, about $2 for 16 ounces.  What a good deal!

Serve with triscuits (original), carrots, naan bread, fresh bell peppers, cucumbers, etc.  Enjoy!