Alex loves hummus. I had never tried it before I met him, but now I love it too. Recently I decided to try and make it from scratch to see if I can make it a little healthier, since the store bought kind contains soybean oil (one of the 3 oils you should avoid because it’s so bad for you – the others being palm and corn).
Substitute for tahini:
Most recipes call for tahini (sesame seed paste), which is slightly pricey and can usually only be found in middle eastern or health foods stores. But I found a way around that! Just use sesame seeds that you toast yourself! It may not be the most authentic way to make it, but it’s super duper easy and comes out tasting just like hummus in my opinion. Alex loves it.
Here’s the recipe:
1 (15 ounce) can Garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed- optional, see note below*)
1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup lemon juice (about one regular sized lemon)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional. I actually prefer it without)
1/2 teaspoon salt (depending on whether or not you drain the beans)
2 Tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 small clove (or 1/2 a large clove) garlic, minced (if you have a good blender, you can just add it whole)
A few Tablespoons water, as needed
*I’ve made it without draining the beans and just omitting the water and the salt. It is recommended that you drain and rinse it though, because I guess the liquid the beans come in contain a lot of sodium & BPA. (Recently I’ve been leaving out the salt even when I drain it, since I figure that the chips you dip in it have plenty already. It still turns out great).
To toast the sesame seeds, just spread it out in a pan and put in the oven on broil for a few minutes until it turns dark brown. Watch it closely though, so it doesn’t burn black. You can stir it around once halfway, if you like, to get it more evenly toasted.
Then, just put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth! Easy enough, right? The amount of water you add depends on how thick you want it – or how thick your blender can handle. Depending on what type of blender you use, you may or may not be able to get it 100% smooth (there may be a few sesame seeds here and there that didn’t get pureed), but that’s OK because it will still taste great!
You can spice it up with some fun add-ins, such as:
Roasted red bell pepper
Fresh spinach
Fresh herbs
Spices, such as paprika or others
Just experiment!
Use as a dip with crackers or tortilla chips. I also like it spread on pita bread. I think it’s best after it has chilled in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Hope you like!
