In The Kitchen with Viggo and Svea: Hummus

We made hummus today!

I don't know about you, but I love hummus. If you don't love it, then I'm guessing you've never tried it. It is so good! I was introduced to hummus while I was a student at North Park; there was a tiny sandwich shop around the corner from campus. For $2, you could get a plate piled high with pita bread and a generous amount of warm hummus, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with paprika, chopped roma tomatoes and parsley.

A few years after I graduated I was sad to hear that the restaurant had closed - the kind owner, whom emigrated to Chicago from Iraq, closed shop and went back home to join the Iraqi Army.

Leaving many sad and starving North Parkers behind.

For a few years I tried different hummus recipes, but nothing came close to what I had in Chicago. Instead of mild and creamy goodness I was coming up with lumpy bean glop. But a couple years ago I stumbled across a recipe and with a little tweaking, was thrilled to find this was as close as I could get to the real deal.

So on to the recipe!


You'll need garbanzo beans (chick peas), extra-virgin olive oil, sesame tahini (basically sesame butter - think peanut butter, only made out of sesame seeds instead of peanuts - you can find this in the hippy-dippy-trippy health food section of the grocery store), and lemon juice. One clove of garlic, and some salt too.

First, drain the bean liquid from the can into a bowl and reserve this for possible use later.

Yum yum yum! It's not even mixed up and I could hear my stomach rumbling.

Viggo dumped the beans into the blender, and then Svea poured in the lemon juice. She was partially successful at getting all the lemon juice into the blender.

I just noticed her eyes are shut in this photo. That probably wasn't the handiest thing to do while pouring the lemon juice.

We added the clove of garlic, and I dumped in some olive oil and salt. Then it was time to blend. Svea always covers her ears when we get to this part.

We poured in some of the reserved liquid from the can of garbanzos to make it extra smooth. Look at how yummy!

And the heavens opened up and sang.

Pita bread. You can easily make your own too, but I wasn't feeling that ambitious this morning.

Look at this - a mango splitter in action. Svea sampled a few pieces of mango once I peeled and chopped it up before we technically ate lunch, where she ate even more. That girl loves mangos. And having some sweet fruit tasted good with the hummus.

Oh my goodness let's not forget the paprika. Have you ever tried smoked paprika? It's super-bright red/orange, and has a really delicious taste. I use it in egg salad, on breakfast potatoes . . . it is amazing. Definitely worth checking out, it adds a punch of smoky flavor. My old paprika is collecting dust; I should just pitch it - I always reach for this one first!

So, put a big spoonful of hummus on a plate, make a well in the middle, fill with more olive oil, sprinkle generously with paprika, and enjoy. If you are eating cold hummus I would suggest warming it up in the microwave. Viggo cut triangle shapes out of the pita bread so we could easily dip it into the hummus.

I didn't get a good picture of the hummus and pita bread because we ate it too quickly. Whoops.

And Elin had some mashed sweet potatoes. Lucky girl! She has so much to look forward to :)

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans

3/4 C lemon juice

1 C tahini

Olive oil - probably about 1/4 C (I just pour some in, but that's probably about how much lands in there)

1 - 3 cloves garlic (we use one - I've used 3 before and Viggo still ate the hummus but mentioned politely it was "spicy")

1/2 tsp. salt or so

Paprika, to taste

Open beans and drain liquid into separate bowl; put beans in blender. Add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and sprinkle in some paprika. Blend, stopping to scrape occasionally. Add enough reserved liquid from beans to give hummus a smooth texture, and blend well.

Top with more olive oil, paprika, tomatoes, whatever - serve with pita bread and enjoy!