Jesselin Homemade Hummus

What exactly is hummus? Pureed chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, with other spices and such and such. 
Why eat it? It is DELICIOUS, fool
What can it do for me? The garlic helps ward off colds, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, infection and even impotence, not to mention the wonders it does for your breath. More importantly, it is a somewhat low fat, tasty dip.

This classic Mediterranean dish (a 2Bit favorite global area) was an absolute staple of the Jesselin house. (along with another big staple- graham cracker, peanut butter, honey :) We would eat it buy the Sam's bulk package-full.

So, with this clear love of hummus, you can see why this recipe, from my Vegetarian cookbook, was calling to me. It tells you to use a food processor or blender. I don't have a food processor, unfortunately, so I used a blender. I had a little problem with that, something to the effect of my spatula being hacked off into the hummus mixture. At that point, I must confess that there was some anger in my heart towards the blender and the recipe, and I thought, frick, I will just buy Sabra... But once 2bit snapped out of it, 2bit was fine and the all was good in the world. The recipe is easy, and you end up with a nice somewhat creamy but firm garlicky hummus. My only problem with this recipe is that it doesn't list the nutrition facts. The entire book omits the nutrition facts. They don't want you to know that when you think you are being healthy and eating your Vegetarian dishes, you are actually eating as much fat as you would with a sloppy joe... Just my conspiracy theory of the day!!

*I had never bought or used tahini (picture below) before; so that was a little tricky, but it can be found at any grocer in the international food aisle. I bought mine at Meijer.

 Jesselin Hummus:

8-ounce can chickpeas (garbonzo beans)

2 garlic cloves, coarsely crushed 

6 tablespoons lemon juice*

 4 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve (I didn't use extra)

1 tsp ground cumin

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

*(took me a little less than two lemons when I squeezed the crap outta them, waste not, want not.)

1. Drain the chickpeas, reserving a little liquid from the can, and put them in a blender / food processor (if you are lucky enough to have one). Blend to a smooth paste, adding a small amount of the reserved liquid if necessary. 

2. Mix the garlic, lemon juice and tahini together and add to the blender / food processor. Process until smooth. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil through the feeder tube or lid.

3. Add the cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Process to mix. Scrape the hummus into a bowl. Cover and chill until you have a par-tay.

A variation tip that I didn't try because it seems so wrong: For a stronger nutty flavor, substitute smooth peanut butter for the tahini paste. This is also delicious served with panfried or broiled eggplant or zucchini or red pepper slices.

Look at the pictures below if you want to feel better about your cooking experience :) And for some poetic skills.

Oh Blender, how 2Bit hates thee...

E tu Blender?

The recipe yielded a good small tupperware's full.

An Ode to Jesselin:

We stayed up all day and all night like Bono,
Except for Erica, when she had mono.
The house always seemed to be in disarray,
Joy fell through the driveway....
We managed to stay away from obesity;
Despite Cara's cookies and the many jars of pb.
Twas the best of times, twas our own little slice of heaven;
We will always look fondly on our memories of 167.