Hummus

The husband and I are still on our health kick, though I think it is becoming more of a lifestyle than just a phase. We've both improved in our running abilities, we've been keeping our commitment to run at least 3 days a week (the husband actually works out about 5 days a week!), and we're starting to see some results on the scale. I even ran my first 5K recently, finishing in 32:47 and 310th out of 1,000 runners (and 27th in my age group)!

Showing the husband my superior running skills after running my first 5k.

All of this healthy living has also affected my cooking; We've been trying to eat healthier at home and limit the amount of baked goods and sweets, replacing junky snacks with fruit and baby carrots.

One of our favorite healthy snacks is hummus and I've been buying it by the truckload from Fresh & Easy. Since we not only like to be healthy, but we also like to save money, I decided to try making hummus myself; A can of garbanzo beans is less than 75 cents and homemade ensures that there's no funky additives or weird processing.

Even with the added step of making my own tahini, this homemade hummus was incredibly easy and tasted fabulous! The husband was skeptical, but after a bite, and then another, followed by a few more, he became a believer. We like to eat our hummus with carrot sticks....well, the husband also likes to make hummus sandwiches...but you could spread it on pita, dip crackers in it, or use it as a spread for turkey sandwiches. How do you eat your hummus?

Hummus
Source: adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans
6 tablespoons tahini (see note at bottom for homemade tahini)
4 Tablespoons lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 - 1/2 cayenne, depending on your heat preferences

Directions
Process the garbanzo beans, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne in a food processor until ground, about 15-20 seconds. Scrape down the sides.

With the machine running, add the lemon juice and water through the food tube. Scrape down the sides and process for another minute.

With the machine running, add the tahini and olive oil through the food tube, continuing to process until the hummus is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Store in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until serving.

Tahini
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

Directions
Toast the sesame seeds on the stove in a large pan over high heat. Stir them gently as they toast to keep them from burning.

Once sesame seeds are golden brown, pour them into the bowl of your food processor. Add half the oil and process until crumbly.

Scrape down the sides. Add the rest of the oil and continue processing until the sesame seeds form a paste (this took me about 2 minutes or so). Scrape down the sides and under the metal blade periodically.

This will yield a scant 6 Tablespoons of tahini.