Let's get jiggy with the chick pea

Lately, Texafornia from Triscoop and Holisticguru from Live and Eat Better have been making alot of noise about hummus. I have been waiting for a recipe for about a month now, and finally just had to take up guru's challenge and try my hand at the garbanzo goo.

Traditional hummus is a blended puree of chick peas, lemon juice, garlic, sesame seed paste and olive oil. It's served with pita, raw vegeatbles, chips, etc. You can see by the ingredients this is a healthy, high protein, low fat food. It tastes good and fills your stomach. And its the perfect platform to mix in your own ingredients. Google hummus recipes and see what you find.



Here's a basic recipe I used for my first attempt last Sunday (from About.com)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

We've recently started getting a carton of organic produce delivered to our house each Friday, and so always find some new, extra vegetable in our fridge. This week we had some fresh organic spinach, so I chopped up a cup and added it to the blender. It really didnt add much to the taste, but boosted the nutrients and made it look a little like guacamole!

That turned out pretty good, and sitting at my daughter's swim practice Sunday I thought about what else you might put in hummus. How about something sweet? My wife and I both love pumpkin pie, and sure enough I didnt have to lok far to find a recipe for a pumkin hummus.

I whipped this one up tonight (Adapted from allrecipes.com)

Pumpkin Hummus

"Pumpkin puree, nutmeg, and allspice lend a fall flavor to this hummus."

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) can garbanzo beans 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree juice of one lemon 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup tahini paste

1 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice salt to taste

Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.


The version you see here was made with a bigger can of chick peas, juice of 2 lemons and 3 cloves garlic. Still good, especially with the graham crackers (a nod to the traditional pie crust ingredient, thanks to my smart wife), but I think the next batch will come out better, a little less spicy, a little sweeter and more pumpkinier.


Please try your own and let me know if you come up with a decent version. Enjoy