Make your own hummous

It was my several-year stint of living in Halifax that introduced me to hummous.  A large Lebanese population and restaurants such as Venus Pizza (one of my favorites for Lebanese food!) meant that hummous was relatively ubiquitous in the Halifax community.  That was also when I noticed that all major grocery store chains were carrying multiple brands of the stuff.  A staple in middle-eastern cuisine, it's a garlicky chickpea spread usually served with pita bread.  Aside from that basic description, there are endless variations of hummous that can be created. 

I started making my own probably four years ago.  I've had to tweak the recipe since then, but as of now, I'm very happy with my own version.  Once you are happy with your own recipe, you'll find it hard to pay $2.99 at the grocery store for something you can make at home for about half that price!

Here are most of the ingredients I usually use:

My hummous tends to be on the lemony side.  I think lemon is an absolutely necessary ingredient.

Now for the recipe.  This is one of those recipes where exact measurements are not that important.  But here is a rough guide: 

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, very well rinsed and drained
~ 2 tbsp tahini
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder if you happen to be out of fresh!)
juice of two lemons
Sriracha (Rooster) hot sauce to taste
water as required to smooth texture


Garnish:

lemon zest
paprika
olive oil
sesame seeds
fresh parsley
... etc., etc.


Combine all main ingredients into a blender.  I use a hand blender with a food-processing attachment.  Blend until smooth.  I will often add water to thin out the texture if the lemon juice wasn't enough.  Isn't that easy??  Yeah.  I know. 


Now for the fun part of garnishing.  I like to spread the hummous over a plate or shallow bowl, then drizzle it with a nice fruity extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle it with paprika.  Fresh parsley or lemon zest makes a nice finishing touch.  Today, we had roasted sesame seeds so I threw some of those on, too.

We had our hummous with toasted whole-wheat pita points.  It's also great with nachos, crackers, or fresh veggies.

Time to eat!

Five minutes later...

A little note on the serving dish:  it was a wedding present from my Aunt Sharon and family - thanks guys!  It's the perfect dish, a handmade pottery plate with a very high edge.  It's my official hummous-serving platter.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I just enjoyed my lunch.  Let me know in the comments if you have any favorite flavour variations or garnish ideas for your own hummous.