Recipe: Hummus

The first staple in the Gibson home is hummus. Now, here's the thing about hummus. It's always amazing at most Mediterranean restaurants, but then when you try to buy it at the grocery store it tastes oily, flat, and just a little, well, wrong.

We're here to tell you that it's because the less you put into it, the better, and the fewer preservatives that get added into it, well, that's good!

As long as you have some patience and a food processor, hummus is actually really easy and pretty cheap to make. So here's the recipe for you.


Hummus

Ingredients:

-- 1 lb. garbanzo beans
-- 2 tsp. baking soda
-- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
-- 1/2 c. tahini sauce
-- 1/3 tsp. salt
-- 2-3 lemons

Directions:

1. The night before you make the hummus, soak the garbanzo beans in 1 tsp. of baking soda. Levi and I learned through trial and error that adding baking soda is essential! It helps soften the beans significantly, which is crucial if you want that smooth, creamy texture that makes hummus so yummy.

2. When ready to prepare the hummus, drain the soaking water and rinse the beans thoroughly in cold water. Add the garbanzo beans to a stock pot with the other tsp. of baking soda add 6 c. of water (or until the beans are covered in half an inch of water). Bring the beans to a boil on high, then simmer on low for about an hour.

3. Skim off the white foam that appears in the surface of the water and dispose of it. Check the beans approximately 45 minutes into simmering to see if they are done. You can tell they are done when they mash easily between your fingers.

4. Once the beans are done, transfer them immediately to a food processor and save 1 1/2 c. of the cooking water. Add 1 c. of the water and begin grinding the beans. Add more water if needed and stop once the beans reach a creamy texture--not a thick paste, but also not like soup.

5. Add the salt and the garlic, then add the tahini sauce as the processor grinds away. After this your hummus will taste amazing, and it will be tempting to stop there!

6. Juice your lemons and add that to the hummus. Fresh lemon juice is, of course, better, and the amount of lemon juice is completely up to you. Levi and I like it to be more "lemony," so we use the juice from three, large lemons. Two lemons should be fine for most people!

7. Once the lemon juice is blended in, serve the hummus hot and fresh. We like to top ours with capers, paprika, and--occasionally--red onions, and we like to eat it with fresh veggies. You can also top yours with some nice olive oil if you'd like, and it's also delicious with pita bread and pita chips. It's also a pretty good (and healthy!) spread on sandwiches. And, as you can see, I like especially like using capers because it allows us to use our super cool tiny forks!

Note: This usually makes quite a bit of hummus, so we freeze half and slowly work through the other half. Depending on how often you'll eat it or how many people are eating it, the hummus could last through one huge get together or one month!