Hummus

Once again I cannot take credit for this incredible recipe. My friend Jeffrey gets the kudos on this one.  It is really amazing.

You should know that Hummus is easy to make, and so much tastier, less expensive and more healthful than grocery store varieties.  Store-bought hummus often is made with sunflower, safflower, canola or very cheap (not extra virgin) olive oil, and tends to have unnecessary preservatives.

2 cans chick peas, saving the liquid from one of the cans
3 tbsp. tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Rinse and pick over the chick peas. There's always one or two duds in each can.  Put the chick peas in your food processor along with the tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  Turn the processor on.  As the chick peas begin to break down, slowly (very slowly!) drizzle some of the chick pea stock into the food processor until everything begins to blend and become smooth.  Generally this uses about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the chick pea stock. Continue to process the hummus for a full 2 more minutes.  Put in a bowl and drizzle more olive oil on top, along with a sprinkling of paprika or zatar. Serve with pita wedges and vegetables (carrot slices, radish wedges, 3" slices of scallion, green pepper) as an appetizer, or use as a spread on vegetable sandwiches.

Variations: add (during the processing) 1/2 cup parsley, or up to 1 cup of diced pitted black Kalamata olives (reducing the amount of salt you add), or use roasted instead of fresh garlic (upping the number of cloves by 5 or 6).