The Truth About Hummus

A favorite local lunch spot of mine serves really good hummus. Usually the standard garlic plus a selection of flavored ones such as spinach pesto and chipotle (isn't chipotle passé now?). Anyway, I figured the other day, hey, hummus is just mashed chickpeas and a little other stuff; I can make that! So I did. First, here's a basic recipe:

One can (14-15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4-6 ounces of tahini (to taste--I like more; get tahini at the Mediterranean grocery, Wild Oats/Whole Foods, or the hippie aisle at the Kroger)
2-4 ounces of lemon juice (to taste--I like more)
2 ounces water
2 cloves of minced garlic (or two tablespoons of the already-minced garlic--in oil or water)
2-3 hearty pinches of cumin (to taste)

Blend all ingredients and garnish with extra virgin olive oil and kalamata olives.

Here's what the recipes don't tell you.

1. You really ought to do this in a good food processor. I don't have one, so I used my blender. And I think I nearly burned out the motor. Maybe doing half that recipe at a time would have been a better idea. Until I get aforementioned food processor.

2. You can add other ingedients for a nice flavored hummus. One recipe called for roasted red peppers packed in oil. What that recipe didn't mention is that those peppers still retain a lot of moisture, so once you've added enough to get the flavor, your consistency isn't right. It was a little runny, though it tasted good. Again, probably would have been a good idea to cut the recipe in half and make the first one standard and then leave out the added water in the recipe for the roasted red pepper version. Maybe even cut back on the lemon juice. Or I could have roasted my own pepper in the toaster oven and tried it. It would not have been as juicy.

3. Fifteen ounces of chickpeas plus another twelve ounces of other ingredients yields a lot of hummus. A lot. As in, enough to feed more than ten people. Ten hummus-loving people. Maybe 14-16 standard hummus-liking people. So ignore any recipe you find calling for more than one can of chickpeas unless you're preparing it for a large party or perhaps an army.

Now I'm off to make some care packages of roasted red pepper hummus for unsuspecting friends and neighbors. Drive-by hummussing.