She Tries Cooking: Traditional Hummus

If hummus were a character on Arrested Development, it would be George Michael. Honest, simple, well-meaning, somewhat plain, but oh-so enjoyable.

Don’t get me wrong, on occasion I enjoy the varieties of hummus that incorporate roasted red peppers, feta cheese, zucchini, roasted eggplant, etc. But why dress up something that is so good in its plain and natural state?

Today I was in the mood for good, old fashioned, traditional hummus.

Lucky for me, I received my first ever food processor for Christmas. Owning a food processor opens many culinary doors, among them, the ability to make your own homemade hummus.

Which is exactly what I did.

The Recipe

Traditional Hummus from Cooking Light

Apprehension Meter

The meter reads fairly low for this one. The ingredient list was very simple and familiar, with the exception of tahini, which was completely foreign to me. I had no idea what to look for when I went grocery shopping this weekend, but found a jar in the Middle Eastern section of the store. I was happy to have found it, but not happy that it cost about eight dollars. Ouch.

Aside from the tahini, the only thing that sprung the apprehension meter above zero was the fact that I was going to use a food processor for the first time. Much like the first time I boarded the CTA, I was nervous and excited.

Here’s How It Really Went

Aside from some technical glitches, this one went pretty well. To be honest, it’s hard to screw this one up. Basically, you add all of the ingredients, in two phases, into the processor, pulse away, and voila, hummus.

But first thing was first: assembling the beastly Black & Decker food processor. It was actually not very difficult once I grasped the concept of how it works, but all of these weird plastic tubes and different blades were intimidating at first.

The beast, in all its glory.

Confession: I didn’t wash the processor before using it for the first time—sorry, Mom. I was too excited and couldn’t be bothered with extra steps. However, to other novice cooks out there—wash your new stuff before you use it. But you already know that.

Anyway, then came the ingredients. One can of chickpeas? Check. One smashed clove of garlic? Check. And in they go.

The recipe instructs you to pulse five times before adding the tahini, lemon juice, water, and olive oil, which is exactly what I tried to do…until I was met with a deep and vast silence. I had followed the assembly instructions, the bowl and the lid were firmly locked in place, the processor was plugged in, but when I turned the large gray knob to “P”…nothing.

I felt disappointment. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Just kidding. Sort of. I resecured the parts, tried a different electrical outlet and still, nothing.

For lack of a better plan, I resecured the bowl and the lid for the third time, and twisted the dial to “P,” and all of the sudden… loud noises! It worked! I was so shocked when the blade began to puree my chickpeas that I immediately let go of the dial. Success!

Following the five prescribed pulses, I added the rest of the ingredients (tahini turned out to be a runny paste-like concoction of pureed sesame seeds, I think). I pulsed, pulsed, and I pulsed some more. And voila! Hummus.

Note: after tasting the hummus, I ended up adding the juice from the other half of the lemon as well. But taste yours before doing this- I just really like lemon, and the juice of a whole lemon might be too much for some people.

Well, you can’t eat hummus all by itself. Enter pita chips. These are incredibly easy: simply cut a pita into triangular slices, arrange on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and a little garlic salt over the pieces, and pop in a 450˚ oven for about 4-5 minutes.