Escape Perfection. Create Yourself.: Homemade Hummus...

I thought I hated hummus for a long time. As it turns out, I just hate grocery store hummus. My sister and I went to this lovely little coffee shop in Milwaukee, WI, called Brewed one day and ordered hummus, and oh.my.god. It was amazing. Warm and delicious and sort of nutty with fresh, hot little pita points. (Additionally, if you're ever in the Milwaukee area, they also have delicious coffee, pastries, tuna sandwiches, and a bunch of vegan stuff if you're into that). Anyway, I loved it. But I didn't really know what was in it or how to make it...and I didn't have a food processor anyway. Enter Christmas 2011...and I got a food processor for Christmas! (You know you're getting old when you're legitimately excited about getting kitchen appliances for Christmas). Anyway, I went to the Food Network website and got Alton Brown's recipes for hummus. I figure if anyway knows the proper way to make hummus, it's Alton Brown. So anyway, there's a traditional version, and there's a "turbo" version that's quicker and easier to make. Since it's my first hummus-making experiment, and I was already a little overwhelmed at the whole prospect, I went with the Turbo Hummus. Plus, it's cheaper, since it uses peanut butter instead of tahini...an idea that I liked in case the whole process went terribly awry, I wouldn't have a bunch of tahini sitting around with nothing to do. So I got it all done, and it's good...it's not Brewed good by any stretch, and you do get a little bit of that peanut butter flavor, but it's pretty tasty. MUCH better than the grocery store version, and every bit the right texture, which is, as it turns out, half the battle with the hummus that I've tried. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Turbo Hummus

Ingredients:

- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and liquid reserved
- 2-3 T smooth peanut butter
- 1 handful fresh parsley leaves
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- Pinch of pepper
- Pinch of salt
- 1/3 c. olive oil

Directions:

Chop the garlic in the food processor. Add beans and 1/2 of the reserved liquid and process to the consistency of your preference. Add the peanut butter, parsley, lemon zest and juice, salt & pepper. Process until it forms a paste. Drizzle in the olive oil and process until it reaches the consistency of mayonnaise.