Hummus

Okay, I know I said lentils, but I’m feeling too brain dead to remember if it’s one or two tbsp of paprika when I make Dahl, so I’ll give you a rain-check. (I think I promised this recipe a long time ago anyway.) Here is a tasty party food in case you’re hosting any this month, and it has the added benefit of being already written down so I don’t have to think that hard. This is my absolute favorite tasting hummus and I figured out how to make it like this after the store where I used to live stopped carrying roasted garlic flavor and I couldn’t live without it.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

3 tbsp olive oil

6-8 cloves garlic peeled

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (cooked from dry, or canned, drained)

3 tbsp tahini (Sesame paste)

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/7 tsp of salt or to taste

3-4 stalks of fresh parsley, washed

In a heavy bottom saucepan place olive oil and garlic. Cook on low heat, turning cloves often until they are a lovely golden color all over. (DO NOT WALK AWAY from the stove during this process, it only takes seconds for garlic to go from “Roasting” to burning and then you have black bitter tasting garlic and a stinky kitchen and you need to start all over.) Of course you could do this in the oven in a garlic roaster, but it takes longer and I don’t have one.

If you have a food processor the rest is easy. Put all ingredients in the food processor with a metal blade and puree it. Now you are done and you can serve it with vegetables, pita chips, crackers and anything else you can thing of for dipping, or with olives, pepperoncinis, hot sauce and olive oil on a plate to mop up with warm pita bread like they do in Israel.

If you are like me and don’t yet have a food processor here is how to make this work in your blender, trust me the order is important. First put in the lemon juice and parsley. Run on high until the parsley is finely chopped. Then add the olive oil with the garlic. Puree. Then add the chickpeas and spices. Puree, stopping several times to stir things around with a chopstick when it gets too thick and stops moving. Once the chickpeas are all pureed pour it out and stir in the tahini by hand, it will be too thick for the blender to handle otherwise. Anyone have a food processor that needs a loving home?