Best Ever Hummus

On our second date, my prince invited me for dinner…on his sailboat.  I always love a good home-cooked meal, so naturally, I was intrigued and excited.  He cooked up some perfectly al-dente pasta and topped it with a delicious red sauce.  

As we enjoyed our meal, I learned the secret to this special pasta sauce…hummus! What?  Hummus in my marinara?  It’s true – if you have never tried it, I highly recommend it. 

It’s a great sneaky way to get a little extra protein in your meal and our kids love it too (just a tablespoonful and they don’t even notice)! And, while the hummus served that evening was store-bought, we have since learned and perfected the very best homemade hummus. 

A huge thanks to my friend, Amy. She taught me the secret to amazing hummus is the method of combining the best quality ingredients.  The lemon and water combo must be added prior to the tahini. And, on this note, TAHINI matters, please choose a great brand of tahini…it will make or break your hummus. With Amy’s wisdom and a sense of adventure, we have been enjoying perfectly smooth and delicious hummus.

Serve this hummus dip with fresh vegetables or your favorite crackers.  Stuff your falafel pita sandwich with hummus and kale salad, add it to your marinara or enjoy it on toast with fresh avocado. So many ways to love this hummus!

Best Ever Hummus

Servings

4

servings

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 can garbanzo beans (15-ounce), drained and rinsed**

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 2 1/2 tablespoons water

• 1/4 cup tahini***

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• dash(es) of paprika …smoked paprika is great too! (optional)

• abundant love

Directions

• Turn the food processor on…then, toss in a whole garlic clove
• Add rinsed can of garbanzos (also while the processor is on) *
• Turn processor off, combine lemon juice and water in a small measuring cup, then add to the processor (again, while on)
• Turn processor off again, combine tahini and olive oil in the small measuring cup (it’s ok not to rinse it), then add the cumin, salt, and paprika to this mixture and mix together well; turn the processor on and add to complete the hummus!
• Mix until smooth and feel free to pause and scrape down sides a time or two, you can add a tiny bit of water if you’d like it thinner. Enjoy!

Notes

• * You may like to scrape down the sides of the inside of the processor and mix before adding lemon juice & tahini mixtures.
• ** If you are inclined to make your garbanzo beans from dried garbanzo beans, yay!  Use 1 1/2 cups cooked beans instead of the can.
• *** VERY IMPORTANT tahini note!  Please choose a great brand of tahini…it will make or break your hummus.  Trader Joe’s brand is amazing.  Our other favorite brand is Prince, from Israel and our local grocery in Austin carried it, can likely be found online too!  We have had poor results with other tahini brands we’ve tried.  Please share if you find other great tahini brands. Thanks.