Vegan Friday: Hummus

I didn’t get too fancy with this, because I was taking it to an office party.

Yeah, I know it’s Saturday. It’s been an outrageously busy week, and I’m exhausted.

Anyway, here is your belated Vegan Friday recipe for what I think is pretty much the best vegan food there is: hummus.

In case you’re not familiar with it, hummus is a dip made from garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas), tahini (sesame paste; find it at the health-food store) and lemon juice. Other ingredients vary, but those are the three main ones.

I like my hummus heavy on the tahini and lemon juice, but as always, you can adjust any or all of these ingredients to suit your personal tastes.

Hummus
1 to 2 cloves of garlic
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
Tahini (start with a couple of tablespoons and add more until you’re happy with the taste)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Cumin
Paprika

Peel the garlic and mince it in a food processor. Add a can of garbanzo beans and process into a thick paste.

Add tahini, lemon juice and olive oil to taste. Start with a couple of tablespoons of each and go from there. Hummus is extremely flexible. Process until ingredients are well-blended. You should end up with a smooth, creamy dip. I like mine fairly thick, but the consistency will depend on the amount of olive oil and lemon juice you use. Add a couple of pinches each of cumin and paprika and process again.

Dish up into a serving container, sprinkle with paprika and serve with pita wedges, pita chips or fresh vegetables. This is a very quick, easy recipe to take to office parties and the like.

Emily