Homemade Hummus

I am very much a fan of hummus.  Frequently when we go out with friends to grab a bite to eat, or I'm on the road traveling for work - I'll order the appetizer of hummus as my entree.  Hummus is refreshing, light but also satisfying and filling.  We went out with friends last night to the Raccoon Lodge, and opting out of a big burger with fries, I ordered the hummus plate.  I should have correlated the quality of the burger to the lacking quality of the hummus plate - it left a lot to be desired.  So today - as my lunch, I sought out on the mission to make homemade hummus in my still shiny new food processor.

It's so pretty :)  And yup - there's peanut butter in the picture.  There's a bit of a story:  I went to the store to gather the ingredients for the hummus - I really only needed garbanzo beans and tahini paste.  I went to the Albertson's that is super close to us - and after several minutes on the hunt for tahini paste I didn't find it.  I didn't have the patience to drive to another store, so I used the power of the internet to find a quick substitute.  Thanks to Alton Brown, I was able to whip up something tasty.

• 1 clove of garlic (Alton wanted 2-3, but after my aioli experience, I shied away for too much garlic
• 1 can of garbonzo beans (drained, but save the liquid)
• 2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
• handful of parsely
• 1 lemon, zested & juiced
• 1/3 cup of EVOO

Pulse together the garlic, beans, and 1/2 of the bean liquid until semi-smooth.  Then pulse in the peanut butter, parsely, lemon zest & juice (only for a couple of seconds).  Then drizzle in the olive oil until nice and creamy.


It paired excellently with a fresh cucumber:

Next time I'm on the hunt for groceries I will defintaly have to find tahini paste. Using peanut butter didn't taste terrible - in fact I could hardly taste it except for a slight aftertaste.  I had a large lemon - so using all the juice and zest gave it quite a zip.  Definitely a snack I will make again and tweak as time goes on.