Hummus

My relationship with hummus is relatively new. It all started about four years ago, when I was living in Tucson and just starting to embrace all the wonder that is Trader Joe’s. I was shopping with my friend Kitty one day and she fell on a tub of TJ’s Mediterranean Hummus as if it were lost gold. When I casually mentioned that I’d never tried hummus, she grabbed a second one and tossed it into my cart.

“This one’s the best. Ever,” she told me.

And how right she was. Until now.

But first, a little more backstory. I’ve held grand intentions of making my own hummus for six or seven months now, convinced that it would be super easy to make (it is). But Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry tahini, which meant another belabored trip to the natural food market (the reason I love TJ’s, aside from the products, is the efficiency of it all; natural food markets tend to lack said quality). Eventually, however, I mustered up the courage to walk the aisles of Jimbo’s, where I found the tahini tucked next to the organic almond butter. I grabbed a few cans of garbanzo beans for good measure, and out the door I went.

Turns out, my conviction went out the door as well: the tahini and garbanzo beans languished in my pantry, forgotten or occasionally pushed aside to make room for other, apparently more enticing canned items.

Then, yesterday, as I thumbed through the latest issue of Women’s Health while at little GG’s swim class, I came across the Q&A Hot Dish column with Ellie Krieger, who provided what she called a simple recipe for homemade hummus. So simple, in fact, that it was barely a paragraph as much as a breath of knowledge. And I thought, okay, girl, bring it!

Back at home, fortified by a wee bit of red wine and a post-dinner lull, I foraged about in my pantry for the lost ingredients of this simple appetizer. That the tahini was past the expiration date was no matter; I was going to make hummus, come hell or high water.

Oh, Ellie, how simple it was! In less than three minutes I was happily dipping TJ’s baby carrots into my very own handmade, past-expiration hummus. And it was delish, definitely the best ever. Try it for yourself.

Simple Hummus

1 clove garlic, chopped
15-oz can garbanzo beans (drained & rinsed)
2 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice (fresh is best, bottled will work in a pinch)
2-3 tbsp. of water
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined and smooth, adding more water, if needed, for a thinner end result.

Serve with pita chips or a vegetable crudité.

Inspired by a recipe by Ellie Krieger.