Hearty Hummus Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups / 16oz Chickpea/Garbanzo Seeds (Soaked overnight, reserve liquid)
3-5 cloves of garlic (as a garlic lover, I use 5)
Juice of 1 Large Lemon
1 1/2 Tsp of salt
1 tsp of Pepper
3 Tbls of Tahini
1/4-1/2 cup Olive oil

(Optional Ingredients for toppings: Olive oil, garlic, paprika, za'atar, parsley, additional Salt & Pepper to taste.)

Prep:
Soak the seeds overnight to the point that they can be easily crushed with fingers or a fork. Keep the liquid. You can remove the thin shell of the garbanzo bean, it does add a softer consistency. The skins should slide off quite easily when you gently “pinch” each bean. Discard the Chickpea “skins” once finished. Leaving them on is just fine, but your puree will be slightly grainy.

Add all ingredients into a food processor. Blend until smooth. If your puree is on the dry side you can add either the additional 1/4 cup of olive oil or the reserved soaking water. Keep the puree running for 3-5 minutes to ensure proper consistency.

Serving:

Serve up the puree with suggestive additives. A drizzle of olive oil goes a long way, so does freshly chopped parsley. But as a personal favorite I like to add a sprinkle of smoked paprika along with the olive oil and parsley.

Serve with chopped carrots, celery, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato and pita!

Fun tip: for a hot pink flare to your hummus add 1 fresh red beet from the garden. It extenuates flavor and adds a beautiful color!

Refrigerate leftovers - hummus will keep in fridge for 7 days.