Hummus--simple and yummy!

I've been buying hummus from Trader Joe's for years. If I'm really craving it and don't want to make the drive, I buy it at Safeway. But the other day, I took a look at the ingredients and just about choked... Why is there high fructose corn syrup in hummus? What's the purpose? Also, there were so many preservatives and extras I just didn't want.

That made me think--what the heck, I can cook. How hard can hummus be? Just put chickpeas in a processor, right? Believe it or not, it really is just about that simple. There are more ingredients of course, but if you make it yourself, it's all natural and you can add or reduce anything you want. My first try, I just made your average hummus with chickpeas, garlic, salt and tahini (ground sesame seed paste). It was good.

Today, I decided to be creative. I used 1/2 chickpeas and 1/2 white beans. Yum! I made two different kinds, since I was now a seasoned pro at making hummus. The first one was a roasted red pepper hummus, which just meant I took a roasted red pepper out of the jar and added it to the hummus. Easy. I suppose you can roast your own pepper over the stove, then sweat it for a few moments and peel off the skin. But I always have a jar of roasted peppers in the fridge just in case I'm in a hurry.

The second one was more simple, with just a hint of cayenne and garlic. Wow. I ate these for lunch with a ton of carrot sticks and it was great. I know that may sound like an anemic lunch to some, but the hummus is filling and the carrots are crunchy and good. It filled me up and I felt as if I were eating healthfully, which I was.

Basic Yummy Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can white beans, drained
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 roasted red pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne

If you have a large processor, add all ingredients except for the red pepper and cayenne. Add the olive oil slowly, you may need a little more or less, depending on the consistency that you like. You can also taste and add more salt if you like at this point. Keep it pretty thick though, since adding the pepper will add more liquid.

Once everything is blended smoothly, take out half of the mixture and stir in the cayenne. This one is done.

With the half that is still in the processor, just add the roasted pepper and blend until it's incorporated in the hummus.

Serve with fresh veggies, gf crackers (glutino crackers are quite good), gf bread or even on grilled veggies or in lettuce wraps with crisp veggies.

Next I'll try some roasted eggplant for another of my favorites. The great thing about this is you can make it any way you want, or add anything you want.


My tiny processor. I think it's just for little jobs, but I don't have a big one. I think it may be time to splurge on the big one, especially since my blender just went out of business. But this is cute, isn't it? And it gets the job done.

Try this, it doesn't get any easier. Everything goes in the processor, blend and your done. Now if you're like me and you only have this tiny processor, you have to do it in batches. And even that wasn't too bad. I did it all in batches until I had all of it blended, then added the roasted pepper to half the mixture. It took longer to peel and cut the carrots than it did to make the hummus. But if you have a full-size processor, it's even quicker.

Enjoy!