Basic Hummus

Our family loves hummus! It's delicious, it's healthy, and it's one of the few proteins my toddler actually loves.  Most of us prefer to eat it as a dip with warm pita bread or veggies, but Q prefers to eat it by the spoonful {or fistful...}. Over time I've adapted a combination of recipes that our family loves. I just made a big batch the other day and served it at a small group meeting and later took some on a picnic with friends and it got rave reviews all around {even from one hummus-hater}. So, I'm sharing the super simple recipe if any of you want to try it out.  It makes a lot, so feel free to halve it, but we always go through it in a matter of days anyway.

2 cans garbanzo beans {chickpeas}, about half of the liquid drained

6 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini {sesame paste}

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin 

1/4 cup+ olive oil (I start with a 1/4c and add more until it's how I like it...)

Toss everything into a food processor and process until smooth. 

Seriously, how easy is that?!

You can use more or less of the liquid in the cans of garbanzo beans depending on the consistency you prefer. You could also use more or less olive oil (I think it makes it smoother). You can pretty much use more or less of anything depending on your tastes, which is how I ended up with this particular concoction :-P We like to add cumin (as reflected in the ingredients) because we love cumin, but if you don't like cumin, use more salt or try a different spice you do like.  You can also add pretty much anything to flavor it that strikes your fancy... cilantro, roasted red pepper, chipotles, etc.

Enjoy!