Hummus hummus, the edible fruit...

The more you eat... no, you really don't toot too much from hummus.

What a strange mix of beans and sesame butter that hold so many's attention captive. I shirk to see hummus sold in grocery stores because its so ridiculously easy to make, really! It would be a waste of money to buy something you can make in 10 minutes with a food processor, and if you don't have one, you can always use a potato masher.

Generally a middle eastern, mediterranean deal, and paired with baba ganoush (not a fave of mine), hummus can be part of a mezza, a spread on a sandwich, put it on a celery, dip some crackers in it, or if you are feelin the pinch of poverty, a spoonful of protein to quite your belly down. You can make it plain, make it garlicky, make it spicy, sky's the limit! Its a very nice flavor canvass to try out new taste combination. When you make it enough times, it'll become a "feeling", and from there experimentation can be groovy!

Here's a rough estimation of a basic hummus recipe, scaled down, of course.

4c COOKED garbanzos/chick peas (they're the same thing)
1/2c tahini (sesame seed butter)
1/4-1/3c lemon juice
1/2c olive oil
1T minced fresh garlic, or 1 1/2t garlic granules
1/2-3/4t salt
1t cumin
1/2t paprika (or more for color)
2T dried parsley or 1/4 chopped and washed fresh.
Water, as needed.

In a food processor, put all the ingredients but the garbanzos, oil, and parsley. Blend until smooth, then add about half the beans and blend again. Add parsley, and SLOWLY add the oil while blending. You may need to add a few tablespoons of water in between steps to keep things flowing (lol), but don't use more than 1/4 or you will have to add more spices to counteract the blandness of the water.

Depending on how you like your hummus, you might want to have more or less liquids to drys. I like really garlicky thick hummus that you can spread on a celery stick and make an army of raisins march down into my boca.

Some variations to the traditional standard:
Soak 1/2c sundried tomatoes, chop in the food processor BEFORE adding anything else to make sure there are no large unsettling pieces.
or
Cook a fist-sized beet in a small pot of water. It's done when you can poke it with a fork and the skin should come off by scraping with a spoon. Use this in place of tahini for a vibrant fuschia hummus.
or
Decrease the amount of tahini by a few tablespoons, as well as the oil. Add roasted red peppers for a sweet/savoury hummus (its really good for dippin apple slices in)

Some other flavour combinayshes:
Garlicky (use roasted and raw)
Wasabi Ginger
Sesame (add sesame seeds in addition to the Tahini)

Use your imagination! What do you want to dip in it? Sweet things, or salty, or crudite'? Try making a big batch of plain hummus and then making an assortment of flavors with different things to dip in them. Let me know if you come up with any great pairs :)

Keep on eatin and readin!