“Ewwww….your breath is bad.” My daughter whispered to me during church one recent Sunday morning.
“What do you mean?” I whispered back, “I just brushed my teeth.”
“Please don’t talk to me.” She said as she covered her nose and mouth with her hand, shaking her head. You can imagine the look that accompanied this action.
This left me wondering – was it really my breath or was she just being a teenager? It’s rather unfortunate but it was my breath. I had a feeling she was right. My breath did taste like spicy, garlic, from last night’s yummy spicy hummus. It’s spicy, garlic-y and really good. It’s easy and inexpensive. You may never buy hummus again!
Start with dried garbanzo beans and soak them overnight or for 2+ hours before you cook them. I put 6 cups (2 1/2 pounds) of dried beans in my crockpot and cover them with several inches of water. After letting them soak in the water, I turn on my crockpot and cook them for about 5-6 hours. You can follow this same soaking method and cook them on the stove, if you don’t have a crockpot or another type of slow cooker. When cooking on the stove-top, make sure they don’t boil over. They’ll need about 1 1/2 – 2 hours of simmering, with a tight-fitting lid, on the stove-top. Beans are done when the outside is soft. Take a bite and test. You’ll know when they’re ready. I drain out as much water as possible once the beans are cooked and then I let them cool before making hummus. Many times, I cook the beans one day and make the hummus the next. It’s a little hard trying to fit all those beans into my refrigerator but somehow I manage!
6 cups dried garbanzo beans yields about 15 cups of cooked beans. This recipe uses 4 cups of beans per batch and I usually make 3 batches of hummus, which uses 12 cups of beans.
- 4 cups garbanzo beans, cooked
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon curry
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, lightly packed
- Place garlic in food processor and process.
- Add remaining ingredients and process for 2 minutes or until creamy.
- Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper or Tabasco and process again.
- Store in airtight containers.
Notes
- Roasted garlic is excellent in here and gives it added flavor. Start with 1 Tablespoon of roasted garlic cloves and taste.
- When making more than one batch, after processing in food processor, I place all of the batches together in a big bowl and mix them together by hand and then I place in containers. My batches never turn out exactly the same and this step seems to be the equalizer!
- A sprinkle of paprika and/or a little drizzle of olive oil prior to serving gives your hummus a nice finish.
It’s easy to make hummus at home and once you do, you’ll never buy it at the grocery store again. Hummus is expensive to purchase ready-made but it’s inexpensive to make and it tastes much better. You may have bad breath but you’ll be in good company!
What’s your favorite hummus recipe? Do you cook with dried beans? Do you cook with a crockpot or slow-cooker?
Go Gingham related links:
Spicing it up in the kitchen
Roasted garlic spread
Cooking with dried beans
Parenting teens (or why my breath is always considered bad!)
Weekly meal plan (that includes an easy recipe for sauteed garbanzo beans)
Go Gingham 
Yep – Mother’s bad breath at church sounds about right! My mom’s was a combo of coffee and cigarettes. I’m sure I gave her the same grossed out look your daughter gave you!
And yes, I use my slow cooker every week – especially in the Spring when sporting events take us late into the evening.
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Kirsten! That is a great story…gotta love the look of a teenage daughter 🙂 Love the slow cooker for sports nights! We have the biggest batch of pasta salad in our refrigerator for that exact reason…quick dinners (or breakfasts!) that are hearty on sports nights. Thank you…
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How did you know I was looking for a tasty not bland hummus recipe!!! Thanks
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Roz! So glad…please let me know how it turns out for you! Thanks for leaving a comment.
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I would have never thought to freeze hummus. glad to know it freezes well.
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Yep, in fact I just took some out of the freezer last night…along with a big container of ranger cookies 🙂
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This sounds delicious. I’m so happy you can freeze it too! It makes life easier when you can make something once and save some for later.
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Heidi, I totally agree…I always make something to freeze when cooking or baking. It keeps us from going out to eat or running to the grocery store. The only item I don’t freeze are fresh eggs in the shell. You have to crack those into a container, first. Not that I’m freezing eggs! Our chickens don’t produce enough eggs and sometimes I have to wait to bake until they get busy 😉
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Oh yum! don’t know how I missed this post – I will have to give this a try! I am sure your breath wasn’t that bad, Sara. She is a teenager after all and they do have superpowers for identifying anything that might be even remotely embarassing!
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So true, Annie! Although, my breath was bad but thank you for trying to convince me otherwise 🙂
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We love hummus, we really do and it’s so darn useful to have a vat of, in the fridge! Try adding roasted red pepper occasionally, it tastes very good! Thank so much Sara for popping by our Seasonal Celebration Sunday linky party- so happy to see you link up, you’re one of my faves:-) x
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Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first comment
(it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m
thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any helpful hints for rookie blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate
it.
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I did not know you could freeze hummus, what a great tip! I will definitely try this one.
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Sam, I try and freeze anything! The hummus will have a thicker look to the texture so make sure to stir it well once it has thawed. I thaw it on the counter top after taking out of the freezer. Set on a cloth because moisture will come off. Enjoy!
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