Hummus

Well, it's Monday. The weekend always ends too soon. We had a party over the weekend for the husband's birthday, so this week's recipe will be for the hummus that I made.

I have a lot of goals for my life. One of those goals is to stop eating processed food, if not completely, then at least no more than once or twice a week. Obviously, "processed food" is a pretty big catch-all term, so I check food labels and don't (as a rule) buy things that have ingredients I can't pronounce or find at the grocery store.

Eating this way often costs us a little extra, but not always. This hummus is a good example of when it isn't--grocery store hummus is unreasonably expensive, given how cheap and easy it is to make.

Hummus Recipe (makes approximately 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/4 cup tahini*
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• Garlic cloves to taste (guideline: 2-4 cloves)
• Lemon juice to taste (guideline: juice from 1 lemon)
  
• Salt to taste

  Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Taste, and tweak seasonings to your preference. Voila! Delicious hummus in ten minutes or less. I keep it in a small pyrex bowl with a lid and it lasts for about 6 hours before it mysteriously disappears (longer if my husband isn't home).

Drizzle with olive oil before serving for an extra bit of tastiness.


*If you can't find or can't afford tahini, try substituting smooth peanut butter. There will be a slight peanut taste to the hummus, but it will still be delicious. Sometimes I even prefer it that way.