CURRIED HUMMUS

Chick peas have a very low glycemic index, which means they create steady blood sugar and are especially healthful for diabetics.  Curry powder contains curcumin, an antioxidant believed to be anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic.



This recipe, published in USA Weekend in 2005, caught my eye because I’m a hummus fanatic and I love curry. 



It's so quick and easy and I love the flavor of it so much that it has become my go-to hummus.  If you want a creamier texture, just add more olive oil. 

Curried Hummus Adapted from Jean Carper, USA Weekend, 2005 Rating:  9 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 1 (15.5 oz.) can chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1-1/2 garlic cloves (about 1 tsp. chopped) 2 tsp. Hot Madras curry powder, or other curry powder of choice 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 Tbsp. water scant 1/2 tsp. sea salt optional:  2 drops Tabasco or hot sauce Place all ingredients in work bowl of food processor and blend till smooth.  Serve drizzled with olive oil if desired, with pita chips or crackers of choice.  Makes about 1 cup.

CREAMY ROASTED GARLIC HUMMUS, adapted

This has been the week from hell. My obsessive-compulsive nature has caught up with me, and I'm dealing with a repetitive stress injury from too much computer work. I'll try to get as many posts in as I can, but my shoulder really, really hurts.

I found this recipe on Recipe Zaar, and the reviews were excellent from everyone who tried it. I was a little disappointed in the taste. It seemed flat to me. So I added cumin and crushed chile pepper, and increased the salt. It's still not my favorite hummus, but it tastes better with the the added flavors.

Creamy Roasted Garlic Hummus, adapted
Rating: 6 out of 10
1 large head of garlic
4 Tbsp. +1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided use
2 cups canned chickpeas
2 Tbsp. tahini
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. crushed chile pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
About 1/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut a head of garlic in half.
Brust both exposed sides with the 1 tsp. of oil. Close the head back up, putting the two exposed sides back together, and wrap in tinfoil.
Roast in oven for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool. Squeeze the soft, roasted garlic out of each clove into the work bowl of a food processor. Rinse and drain chickpeas and add them to the food processor. Pulse till completely smooth. Add remaining ingredients, except water, and pulse again till smooth. Add water slowly while pulsing until you get the hummus to the texture you want. Yield: About 2-1/2 cups of hummus

BASIL AND PESTO HUMMUS -- AND MAYBE A DIP

A neighbor gave us some of his homemade basil pesto. I like pesto, but I am not a pesto-nut. I particularly like pesto mixed with mayo as a sandwich spread. Guy does not like pesto on his pasta, and I have to say it doesn't send me into ecstasy either. So I've been looking for ways to use up this very nice gift; hence this recipe. This is not my favorite hummus (olive hummus and sun-dried tomato hummus are my two faves), but this is not bad and I'll make it again. I think a nice veggie or cracker dip could be had by adding about 1 cup sour cream to this hummus along with some more pesto for zip.

Basil and Pesto Hummus
1 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
2 Tbsp. basil pesto
1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp. lite soy sauce
2 Tbsp. lite sour cream
2 Tbsp. tahini
1/8 tsp. sea salt
dash black pepper

Combine all ingredients in work bowl of food processor and pulse till well combined. Scrape down sides and continue to pulse till mixture is creamy. Add some water if it's too stiff.
Yield: 1-1/3 cups

For dip, add another cup of lite sour cream to the hummus along with 2 more Tbsp. of pesto.

ARTICHOKE HUMMUS

My hummus jar was empty today -- boo hoo. It was time to come up with a new hummus recipe. I thought I'd try my own concoction, and artichokes were on my mind. A pantry check turned up 1 can of quartered artichoke hearts which I decided to marinate before making the hummus. I guess it's no surprise that I liked this hummus, because I like all hummus. (Is the plural hummuses or hummus?) How long will it take to run out of hummus ideas? It will be fun to find out. In the meantime, here's another recipe for my favorite snack, hummus:

Artichoke Hummus
1/4 cup marinated quartered artichoke hearts *or marinate your own, see below
1 heaping cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp. tahini
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 nice dashes of ground red pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. paprika
1-1/2 to 2 Tbsp. marinating liquid from jar

*To marinate the artichokes, in a quart-size jar, combine the following:

1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. McCormick Basil-Garlic Seasoning Blend
2 nice cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
13.75 oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Refrigerate for 1 hour or more before making hummus.

When ready to make the hummus, spoon out 1/4 cup artichoke hearts from the jar, taking as little liquid as possible, and place the hearts in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, except the marinating liquid. Pulse till everything is mashed up and fairly smooth, about 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of work bowl. Add enough marinating liquid to make a smooth hummus. Taste and make any flavoring adjustments that are needed. (This was perfect for me, but you might like more cumin or more paprika, or even some sea salt.) Yield: 1-1/2 cups

If you're wondering what to do with the rest of the artichokes, try them on a green salad. And the marinating liquid makes a great salad dressing, so you really can use up everything.

SUNDRIED TOMATO HUMMUS

Continuing on with chickpea adventures, I tried my hand at sundried tomato hummus. The original recipe was posted on recipezaar.com, and I changed it up to suit my taste. I love hummus of all sorts, and this did not disappoint. The tomatoes and roasted peppers add a distinctive taste to the hummus. Our houseguests said this was better than the sundried tomato hummus they usually buy at Costco. Hummus is one thing that is definitely worth making at home; it's cheaper to do so, and it takes almost no time at all. Just about everyone nowadays likes and eats hummus -- that is, except for Guy. He says he can't get past the name, "hummus." Please try this and leave me a comment if you do.

Sundried Tomato Hummus
3/4 cup dry-packed sundried tomatoes, chopped and soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes
15-0z. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 nice cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 Tbsp. tahini
2 Tbsp. roasted red peppers
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (or more if you like your food hot)
Good dash of sea salt and black pepper

Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. In work bowl of food processor, add all ingredients except tomatoes and reserved liquid. Process until smooth. Add tomatoes and process again till almost smooth. Add reserved liquid, as needed, to make a smooth and creamy hummus. Yield: about 23 oz.

LEMON-ROASTED GARLIC HUMMUS

Hummus made in a food processor is smooth and creamy, so I'm not understanding why this photo makes it look like a bowl of oatmeal with roasted garlic on top. You're just going to have to take my word for it: this is good stuff. Now that I've taken the leap and am making my own hummus, I'm amazed that I never did it before. I can make hummus whenever I want. It's not a big deal at all. It makes up so quickly -- just throw everything in the food processor, hit the pulse button and zip, it's done. And you can add whatever you want to it to develop your own flavor preferences.

Lemon-Roasted Garlic Hummus
INGREDIENTS: 1 head garlic
1 15 or 16-oz. can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tahini
3 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin (I use whole seeds and crush them in a mortar and pestle)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 dashes of cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS: Place garlic head on glass pie pan (or on tinfoil or other small baking surface) and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes, till head feels soft when squeezed. Remove from oven and let cool about 1/2 hour before using.
Pull off cloves from head and slit with small sharp knife to remove the roasted clove. (Most directions say to squeeze the roasted garlic out, but I find this to be way too time consuming. It's easier to just slit the skin -- it separates easily from the clove and you can just remove the clove in one piece.) Place all cloves in work bowl of food processor along with remaining ingredients. Pulse for a minute or two, or till everything is nice and smooth and creamy. You can make this as thin or thick as you like it. For a thick hummus, add the lemon juice after you have pulsed everything else, starting with 1 Tbsp. until you achieve desired thickness. For a thinner hummus, add drained liquid from chickpeas, water or additional olive oil until mixture is as thin as you like it. If you like a hotter hummus, add more cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper. See how easy? Now just enjoy it with crackers, pita bread or veggies.

OLIVE HUMMUS

I love Sabra brand hummus. It's so smooth and creamy and the flavor combos are great. But I don't like the price. In our local Harris Teeter, Sabra is $4.49 for 10 oz. and it almost never goes on sale. Somehow the Sabra people make their package look bigger than the competition, but it's still only 10 oz. and it disappears so quickly because it's so good. And that's with only me eating it. Guy won't touch the stuff. He loves garbanzo beans (chick peas, or as the Italians call them, "ce ce beans," pronounced chee-chee beans.) But he's stuck on the name hummus and can't get past it. I've explained to him a million times that it's just ce ce beans (I kind of ignored the other ingredients, knowing how picky he is.). At this stage of the game, though, he no longer trusts me. He's caught me too many times trying to sneak healthful ingredients into his food. But back to the Sabra.... I've been buying it at the Greenville, NC Sam's Club -- 25 oz. for $5.59 -- a real bargain price for my favorite hummus. But when the container is empty, it's not that easy to run over to Greenville, an hour away. So when Tahini (basically, ground sesame seeds and olive oil) and garbanzos went on sale recently, I stocked up and decided to try making my own. This recipe is my first, but not my last attempt at making hummus. It turned out really good, was very easy and very quick. This recipe almost filled the above two recycled Harris Teeter containers (they previously held olives and were washed out). I guess it was about 2-1/2 cups total, give or take; and though I didn't do the math, I can roughly figure there was a worthwhile savings. I think I'll try roasted garlic hummus next time.

Olive Hummus
INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup black olives
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1 15-oz. Garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup Tahini
3-4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. sea salt (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS: Place 1/2 cup black olives and 1/2 cup Kalamata olives in workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse till olives are chopped fine. Transfer olives to small bowl.
Without wiping bowl, place remaining ingredients, except parsley in bowl and blend to a smooth, creamy dip. If too thick, add some juice from the olives or more lemon juice. Transfer to small serving bowl. Sprinkle parsley over top. Mound the chopped olives in center. Serve with raw veggies, crackers or pita triangles. Yield: About 2-1/2 cups

Now, if you really want to be frugal, later I will post a recipe for homemade Tahini.