Tags
cactus, chickpeas, cici beans, garbanzo beans, healthy snacks, Hummus, NBA, opuntia
I was on my way out to the greenhouse a little bit ago with a bag of perlite for my afternoon project—rooting some cacti that I brought back from my trip to California last week, and yes, I procured them legally—when I realized I was hungry.
Extremely hungry—my post-run appetite was suddenly very insistent—and all projects would have to go on ‘hold’ for a bit.
I was hungry for hummus, which meant I’d have to make it because we were out. Not a big deal, because with a food processor, hummus can be made in about as much time as it takes to make a sandwich. While I was grabbing the stuff from the fridge and pantry, it occurred to me that while a lot of people love this stuff, not everyone loves the big price tag on those itty-bitty containers that grocery stores sell. And as nutritious as hummus is, most of the commercial varieties have some unpronounceable additives in them, which can’t possibly be good for anyone except the companies who market them. Lots of folks also don’t know how easy and quick it is to make at home, either. And as I was having these lofty thoughts, I decided to write my recipe down as I went (for a change), so that I could share it at a later date in a blog post.
A few minutes later the hummus was done, and it was so pretty I just had to snap a few photos for that ‘later’ blog post.
I was eating and snapping pictures—mostly eating and wiping hummus off of my camera—and decided that now is as good as later for a post on hummus. The weekend is almost upon us. Its NBA playoff time, and we’ll need healthy snacks to get us through all of the big games!
Here’s what you need:
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo or cici beans)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
2 T tahini (a nut butter made from sesame seeds, usually found by the peanut butter in stores)
2 T water
¾ tsp salt
And garlic…don’t forget that!
All you have to do:
Put the chickpeas in a strainer. Rinse them thoroughly, and set them aside to drain.
Use the blade attachment for your food processor (you can make this in a blender if you don’t have a food processor) and dump everything into the bowl. Add the chickpeas, and process everything into a smooth paste. Scrape the sides once or twice to make sure everything is well blended.
That’s all there is too it, and there’s only about a dollar’s worth of stuff in there. The tahini is the most expensive ingredient, but store it in the fridge and it will last a long time, long enough to make tons of hummus! Think of this recipe as more of a guide—you can adjust everything or even add more things to make it however you like best.
Now I have some cactus to go tend to.
Thanks so much for visiting with me, and see you soon ~ Lorrie