Hummus oh Hummus!

Today's recipe/blog is about yummy hummus.  A lot of people aren't familiar with this amazingly healthy food.  We eat it as a snack or with our dinner as an additional side.  I cook a lot of veggie plates in our home, which will be one of my upcoming blogs i.e. examples of different veggie plates to bring into your home.  Anyhow...Hummus is a "bean dip" in essence, but is a traditional Greek menu item mainly. 

Hummus is a Middle Eastern and Arabic food/dip made from chickpeas/garbanzo beans, blended with tahini, oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.  This is the base of any hummus recipe.  Today it is popular in Middle Eastern, Moroccan, North African cuisines around the globe.
Hummus is actually the Arabic word meaning "chickpeas" interesting enough. 
There are almost too many benefits to consuming this yummy food to include in this blog, so I provided my favorite source of info for the foods I love and research. 

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58

You will see that Garbanzo beans are an amazing source of fiber which will leave you fuller longer, and keep you from reaching for other fatty foods to satisfy your snack cravings.  I highly recommend trying your hand in making hummus.  Hummus can be rather pricey when purchasing it at the store.  Many prepared hummus dips are upwards to $5 for a small container.  This is why I made the investment in buying tahini(required in all hummus making).  This is an investment because tahini is about $8 for a jar.  But, with that sticker shock hitting you in the face, know that it only requires 2 tbsp. per recipe or per can of garbanzo beans to make hummus. Trust me, it's much much cheaper to  make your own that buy premade.. and healthier because it's always smarter knowing what really and how much exactly of each ingredient goes into your food.  Last bit of info before I share my recipe...Hummus will keep in an air tight container in your fridge for about a week or so. The premade stuff has preservatives to keep it longer, fresh does not. Remember this when weighing your options...make your own with no preservatives, or buy premade, which is soooo much pricier and with tons of stuff you don't recognize. Read your labels people! ok..enjoy:)

 

 

The recipe I am sharing with you is my own taken from many recipes and concocted into my hummus.  I like black olives in my hummus and I then top it with chopped black and green olives at the end. Not pictured in garlic. I always include garlic in my hummus.  Now, there are all sorts of hummus you can make.  Roasted red pepper, garlic, olive, artichoke, spinach, pine nut hummus... But this is your basic recipe with olives added in.  Also, most recipes call for olive oil. I am not a fan of olive oil simply because most you see on the shelf is so processed, it no longer holds the benefits of a good olive oil.  Good olive oil should come in a dark dark bottle, with no light being able to penetrate the bottle and get to the oil.  I use sunflower oil. I love it.

 

 

1 can of garbanzo beans/chick peas

2 tbsp of tahini

1-2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of black olives

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of pepper

1 tbsp. of sunflower oil

2 tbsps of lemon juice(fresh)

2 tbsp. of chopped black olives as garnish

2 tbsp. of chopped green olives as garnish

 

 

That's it! You can also add red pepper flakes to this recipe or the famous sriracha for some intense heat! Know what you're getting into though with that stuff. It's super hot!!

Anyhow, throw all the ingredients in your food processor and process away until it forms into a nice creamy dip.  Then I recommend enjoying with some fresh cut veggies to keep down on fat and calories. I.e. carrots, celery, cucumbers, bell pepper slices...

 



 

Here is your finished product! It is so yummy and so healthy.  You can't go wrong with this food :)