Hummus

I’m posting a basic hummus recipe here, but there are endless ways to vary the recipe. A couple of great additions are sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers or caramelized onions. The two main ingredients in hummus are garbanzo beans and tahini, which is a sesame paste. A jar of tahini will run you about $7.00-8.00 a jar, but it goes a long way, and is essential for a good hummus. If you’re in a hurry, canned garbanzo beans are fine to use, but I prefer to buy dried beans and soak them overnight. In the morning, I drain them, cover with a few inches of fresh water, and boil for about an hour, partially covered. Once they cool, I divide up whatever I’m not using immediately (about 2 cups per baggie) and freeze them. Commercially prepared hummus can have a pretty high calorie count due to the amount of oil used to thin the consistency. This recipe calls for only a few tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of a lemon and then vegetable broth to thin the mixture, thereby cutting some of those calories.