Finally...some recipes! Hummus!

Since I was so gently eased out of sleep this morning by some big dude throwing up while sneezing in our apartment complex, I thought I would write down some of my favorite recipes before church.

This hummus recipe is excellent, in my opinion. I've never had store bought hummus taste this good, and there is the added bonus of knowing YOU made something for less than a dollar that normally costs about $3.50 in the store.

This recipe was adapted from EatingWell.com's Roasted Garlic Hummus. I have tried this recipe with traditional garbanzo beans and pinto beans (because they are cheaper). They taste similar to me, and since pinto beans are available at Costco...well, there you go. The recipe would follow the same instructions for either, however, it is not necessary to "shell" the pinto beans.

Lisa's Roasted Garlic Hummus

Reagents:

1 19-oz can of chickpeas (or pinto beans)
1 head garlic
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS H2O (ahem...water)
1 TBS Soy sauce
1 TBS Tahini (sesame paste, usually found in the international foods section of grocery, or can be found at specialty markets, which is where I found mine)
2 "Grinds" from a pepper grinder
Dash of salt
Dash of Cumin
Chili powder to taste (I like mine a bit spicy)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425. Remove the outer, papery layers from the garlic, and chop of the top 1/2" of the head, exposing the top of all of the cloves. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and place in oven. Roast for about 40 minutes. Garlic should be soft and sticky, and smell ah-mazin'. Separate cloves (carefully if you're brave (read: stupid) and it's still hot), and place garlic in food processor or blender.

2. Drain and rinse chickpeas (or pintos). I like to remove the skin from the chickpeas to make a smoother hummus. To do this, soak chickpeas in water, and roll them around with your fingers. The skins will come off easily and float to the top. Skim them off, and have patience, because this is can be a frustrating step.

3. Puree garlic, beans, water, lemon, tahini, and soy sauce. Mix in spices thoroughly (you could probably puree them with the other ingredients, but I don't).

4. Garnish with...whatever you like! Popular traditional choices are paprika or a sprig of parsley.

Serve with crudites or pita chips. I also use this as a spread on my sandwiches for added flavor.

Enjoy!

Geez Louise

Okay, so obviously, I'm pretty terrible at this. It turns out being a graduate student + wife = full time (aka no time for yourself) job. I wish I could post (and remember to take pictures) all of my cooking adventures. It's just not going to happen easily, people. Perhaps the greatest hurdle I have is not owning a (working) computer right now. Cowering in the office while uploading recipes is not a good idea. HP, however, will fix my recalled product, and then I should be posting with a vengeance :). More to come!

The Weekend Wonder

Being a graduate student, I don't have a whole lot of "personal" time, which means normally I want things to get done as fast as possible so I can sit down in front of the TV and veg with my husband. This past 4th of July weekend, something in me changed. I have decided to say "NO!" to boring food that may require little effort, but is surely bad for my body, and say yes to bettering myself through cuisine.

I am also a thrifty gal, and so whenever I find a way to save money, I run with it. For example, this weekend, I made my own pita chips, hummus, and granola bars, all in about 1 hour of total work. Below are the recipes that I used (taken entirely from other sources but modified to fit my own taste). I calculated (yes...actually calculated) the money I saved versus buying processed versions from the store, and per serving I saved about $4. This may not seem like much, but taken in the context that there are normally 8 granola bars in a box, about 8 ounces of hummus per container and the pita chips were made with stale pita bread I was going to throw away otherwise, the outcome is significant.

Below (in my edit soon to come) are the recipes for these snacks. Enjoy, and remember to cite properly :). Intellectual theft is a terrible crime.