Sunday, March 2, 2008

Meatless Gluten-Free Lunch: Hummus

I have bought many small containers of hummus, some regular, some flavored, and I don't like any of them. So I make my own. This makes 2 meals for 2, and has the advantage that it tastes even better the second day:

Check the ingredient list of a large can of garbanzo beans, chick peas, or ceci (all the same thing). If it has a lot of ingredients besides the beans, pour out the liquid and rinse. If it's just beans and salt, keep the liquid (unless you are really watching your sodium). Put the can contents or beans in the container of a blender, with a little added water if you discarded the canning liquid.

Add garlic to taste. For us, 3 chunky cloves make it taste great.

Add 1/4 cup sesame tahini, or slightly more to taste.

Whirr it all up until the beans are a paste. If it is too thick to whirr, add some lemon juice, bottled or fresh, one or two tablespoons to start, and then more to taste.

You want to get a balance between the heavy oiliness of the sesame tahini and the zip of the lemon. Blend till it's homogeneous, or pour/scoop it out of the blender container onto a flat dish and stir until blended.

Adjust the flavor by adding a little more lemon juice, or if necessary, a little more tahini. Add salt if you must.

Smooth the finished mixture so that it is spread out and flat. Pour several tablespoons of great-tasting olive oil over the top and sprinkle with cayenne pepper if you like. Really ripe olives go well with it. Serve with chips, rice crackers, or pita (won't be gluten-free!). Or serve with raw veggies as scoops, or over steamed veggies.

Store it covered in the fridge overnight and enjoy some the next day for breakfast or lunch! PL

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