Hummus, Day 1 - The Original

I get bored quickly.

Probably too quickly, but that's besides the point.

I've recently developed a touch of serious ennui at this whole competition thing.

"How is it possible to become so thoroughly over something a mere four months after its conception?" you may ask.

I don't really know, but it did, and it's my blog, so I'll switch things up if I want to, up if I want to, up if I want to, Lesley Gore style.

This weeks winning theme was hummus and given my current mood, I've decided I'm going to provide one recipe a day for the rest of the week.

If you want to rule a tiny universe as well, might I suggest you start a blog of your own?

It's really lovely, not to mention terribly efficient.

Anyways, back to the star of this post, hummus.

I'm going on nearly a month strong of inhaling this chickpea dip every single day.

And I'm not hating it. Rather, I'm loving it.

I wanted to start at the very beginning. A very good place to start according to Rodgers and Hammerstein.

So, I decided to take the most basic of hummus ingredients, chickpeas, tahini (TCHHHINI for all those Israelis and lovers of Israel out there in the blogosphere), salt, lemon juice, and garlic, and really not stray from them.

As you may have guessed, this was a complete and total fail because I'm seemingly incapable of sticking to a recipe.

I added hot sauce.

Tobasco specifically.

Then I added excessive garlic.

Smoky paprika may have made an entrance.

And I most definitely topped it all off with an olive oil drizzle.

Some things will never change...

As Basic as I Get Hummus
Servings: 1/2 cup, doubles very easily

Ingredients

1-15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water
Paprika and a drizzle of olive oil

To Do

In food processor, add the garlic cloves and pulse until fine.

Then add chickpeas, tahini, hot sauce, lemon juice, salt and water and run until at desired consistency.

Pour into serving dish and present either as is, or with paprika and drizzled olive oil.

Vogueing

The team - go, fight, win, yay.

The team - winning. How many pictures of food process mystery action do we really need?

Action shot. Guess what I'm having for my snack this afternoon? And maybe for my dinner...and then again around 9pm.

Notes on Taste and Texture

Texture is a very tricky subject with hummus.

I prefer my hummus with some texture so I ran the food processor for 30-45 seconds.

For a silken smooth consistency, you may want to add up to another tablespoon of water or 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.

I also prefer my hummus with a real garlic kick. I could probably kill a vampire with a glance.

If you are pro-vampire and not-so-pro-garlic, maybe cut back down to one clove or eliminate it in full.

Tahini is a sesame paste that oddly reminds me of peanut butter. It is really rather integral to a traditional hummus. The flavor, however, is somewhat strong and you can find recipes all over the internet eliminating it from hummus.

I have two points of contention here:

1. Tahini is delicious
2. If you don't like the flavor of tahini in your hummus, don't make my recipe.

Up Next

Three glorious days of hummus variations.

Get pumped.

In the meantime, what is the very best hummus you've ever consumed?

What is your favorite hummus variety?

What do you think people do in parts of the world where hummus is not acceptable? (other than live slightly sad lives).