This is what happens when you decide to cook up a whole bag of dried chickpeas….they kind of explode on you!!

Fortunately we like them many different ways.

From hummus to falafal and all the new dishes we are trying from ‘For the Love of Garlic’, (Erin was here and fixed us her chana palak) we like them all!  So on this very rainy Saturday in Houston with the thunder in the background, I am putting in some food processing time to whip up several different flavors of hummus to use this next week in lunches.   After our recent ‘sushi extravaganza’  trip to Denver to see Hunter, Laura, Carter and the kitties , I bought the Mark Bittman book, Food Matters, and it (and Hunter, Erin, Mike and Laura) have totally convinced me to try the primarily plant diet he suggests for breakfast and lunch, with whatever you want for dinner (including wine and chocolate cake, he claims!!) With that in mind, hummus is a great snack, appetiser, and sandwich spread.  Hope one of these will become your favorite, too!

Basic Hummus

2 cups of chick peas, drained and rinsed

2 TBS tahini paste

lemon juice

1/4 c. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 -2 cloves of garlic (optional)

Garnish with drizzle of olive oil and paprika!

Pulse all ingredients in food processor to desired consistency and serve chilled.  The best part of this basic recipe is you can add some of you favorite enhancements to give it a whole new flavor profile.  Suggestions are; roasted eggplant, various nuts, onion, there are tons of ways to kick it up!  If you are adding an ingredient that is very dry you may need to add more olive oil and because this is ‘For the love of garlic’ I would always add a little garlic to the mix!  You just can’t go wrong!!

Olive and Garlic Hummus

2 cups of chick peas, drained and rinsed

6 cloves (3 TBS) garlic

2 TB tahini paste

10-12 olives (your favorite, kalamatas are great but any including spicy olive mix are yummy)

ground pepper and sea salt

juice of one lemon

1/4-1/2 cup of good olive oil

Process in food processor to desired consistency!  Enjoy on crackers,  pita, etc.

3 Pepper Hummus

2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 TBS tahini paste

6 cloves of garlic (2 TBS)

3 small chipotle peppers made into paste with TBS olive oil

1 roasted red bell pepper

1/4-1/2 Cup of olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste

Make Chipotle paste in food processor (it’s helpful to hand chop them before processing, or in a pinch you could use a commercial made chipotle flakes) and then add other ingredients pulsing to desired consistency.

Serve chilled on bagel or pita chips.  Especially good on warmed pita triangles!