Not so much, Hummus

Hey there! Happy Earth day! Villanova is celebrating Earth day with lots of things like..... a farmer's market that's not really local at all, a food stand featuring healthy food items (some of which are legit), student poster displays about their 'sustainable' research (featuring some good stuff like biodegradable coffee cups and reusable mugs), a table with non-everything cookies, a table with 'coon skins, turtle shells and a snake (probably the most ridiculous table but also the only real 'Earth' things present at the festivities, correlation?), 25 cent scoop Hersey's ice cream... because hey, Hersey loves the Earth! (?) Even Wawa decided to join the party and give away mini chocolate milks! It's totally related, you know, like "Lowfat milk, liquid sucrose, coca processed with alkali, corn starch, salt, carrageenan, vanillin"... they're all like, from the Earth at one time...... uh....

Anyway!

One of my favorite things about Whole Foods is the bulk foods section. It brings me back to my days in Denver where I'd spend some early Sunday morning meandering through Whole Foods, picking out random treats from the heady bulk bins. It's like bulk candy.... for wholesome people. It also reminds me of preparing for backpacking trips... wondering just how much was enough to keep me going. It's kind of an ominous feeling.

Anyway, I obtained these little dried, wrinkly nurdles, otherwise known as Garbanzo beans, and decided they were just the right price for making Hummus.

It seems to me like there's a hummus craze going on right now. I mean, everyone. eats. hummus. Even my mother. (Who's pretty Italian.) And there are a bazillion different kinds. My favorite title is "40 spices Hummus". 40 spices? Really? That seems like... 35 spices too many . (Turns out it's actually delicious.) Anyway, I decided to make my first pass at traditional Hummus, and then build from there.

This recipe is going to be an example of what NOT to do. Don't snicker. I know what you're thinking... 'sweet food blog', you don't even make successful hummus. But here's what I think: you will be much better informed if you ever want to make your own hummus. And much more successful.

Look at what I did. (<- Sounds like I'm going to segue into a little kid story of drawing on a wall with crayon and being so proud of it.)

You must soak and cook the garbanzo beans to get rid of all the stuff that makes a person gassy. You can either a.) soak over night b.) boil for 30 minutes, then discard water. I did the latter.

• Put yer beans in a pot with a bunch of water to cover them
• Boil uncovered for about 40 minutes, or until they're really tender
• Take about 1 3/4 cups beans and put into FOOD PROCESSOR (wheo! wheo! wheo! er! er! er! this was the wrong thing to do!)
• Blend it up with some of the bean juices from the pot so it is not super pastey
• Throw 2 cloves of garlic in
• Throw 1/4 c tahini paste in
• Throw 1/4 c fresh squeezed lemon juice in (about 1.567 lemons, but I guess it depends on their juiciness)
• add 1.5 tsp of sea salt ground up (or in my case, rubbed between your fingers to crush)

Alright, after blending a bunch.... until it didn't appear to be getting any smoother, this is what I got:

Some garbanzo bean dip that was too grainy and too lemony. Turns out blending everything BUT the garbanzo beans BEFORE adding the beans is the way to go.

Stay tuned for 'Hummus New and Improved!'

.... I kindly notified my roommates to please help themselves to the hummus in my fridge upstairs.... someone has to eat it. ; )

EDIT: I tried 'frothing' the tahini mixture before adding the beans, and was still slightly unsuccessful in achieving the perfect creaminess. I believe this has a lot to do with cooking time for the garbanzo beans, and potentially with the quality of my food processor. Don't worry though, I've been scheming about how to fix these problems. More hummus to come later....