Hummus - Chickpea Dip

Directions

1. First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. We need the oven to roast the garlic cloves. You can use raw garlic in this recipe, but I prefer to roast it as it gives a special warm flavor to the hummus. Put 5 large garlic cloves in aluminum foil, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and wrap the garlic.

   Place the garlic in the oven for about 15 minutes.

2. We will need 1 can of pre-cooked chickpeas. Of course, drain and rinse the chickpeas before using them.

   ¼ of a cup of Tahini, which is THE secret ingredient of hummus. Tahini is basically sesame seeds paste,  in other words it’s the peanut butter of sesames! Make sure to stir the tahini in the bottle before using it.

   1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, ½ a teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of salt. In general, I  prefer to add a little bit of spices to start, then adjust the seasoning later. And now add the roasted garlic cloves.

3. Add a little bit of water, around 2 tablespoons, and blend all the ingredients.  Use a spoon if to mix the ingredients in your blender if it gets stuck at some point before adding water – you don’t want to end up with a hummus that is too fluid.

   You can adjust the consistency of your hummus to your taste – if you want it thicker add more chickpeas and tahini, and if you want it smoother add more water.

   And that’s it! Decorate your hummus with some canned chickpeas in the center and paprika.

   Serve with flat bread, crackers, or vegetables as a dip.