Hummus was probably the first "exotic" thing I ever ate as a vegan, and has remained one of my favorite snacks for nearly a decade. Over the years, I've had a wide variety of hummus recipes--starting with the one in How It All Vegan (the first cookbook I ever owned, I think), which has onions and soy sauce and all manner of craziness. In these, my golden years, I've settled on a more traditional hummus, a simpler hummus, a more humble hummus.

Infinitely more attractive hummus

Hummus

  • 4 cups or 2 cans of chick peas
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • 1/8 - 1/4 cup of lemon juice (to taste)
  • 1/8 cup of olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of tahini
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 medium-sized white onion, sauteed (optional; sauteed with the garlic, if you're going this route)
  • 2 - 4 cloves of garlic (optional)

Yep, that's it. Blend all of the above ingredients in a food processor until they're as smooth as Barry White's deep soulful voice.

Should this produce a less-than-excellent hummus, you might consider the following:

  • if you're using canned chick peas, cook them for 20 minutes
  • attempt to remove all of the thin shells by gently massaging the chick peas in water and spooning out the shells when they float to the top
  • experiment with different brands of chick pea and tahini--you'll be amazed at how different they can be
  • use dry chick peas and cook them yourself (ideally, with a pressure cooker)
  • add the tahini, olive oil, and/or lemon piecemeal-- you can always add more

You can make this seem really fancy by serving it with a few things you probably have on hand anyway--a drizzle of olive oil (I like to make a little pool), a sprinkle of paprika, and/or some minced garlic (ideally in the olive oil pool).

You can also make this like 100X healthier by baking some pita to eat with it instead of chips.