Jenna's Hummus is what's blending!

I posted earlier about Mediterranean night and a hummus recipe. It was one from Everyday food. I found my recipe - it was on the back cover of one of my cookbooks. A great "safe" place to put one of my favorite recipes. This is my double batch recipe.

Jenna's Hummus

2- 3 cloves of garlic (I mince mine first, if you are not a huge garlic fan, use 1 clove)

2 cans chickpeas (1st can, pour in everything, 2nd can, drain, keep liquid)

3 T. Lemon juice (fresh is best, lemon juice from a plastic lemon is fine)

2 T. Tahini

1 t. cumin

1 t. sea salt

1/8 t. cayenne (or to taste)

1/2 t. paprika

Put all ingredients except for the extra liquid from the 2nd chickpea can in the blender or food processor. Blend. Scrape down sides of blender if necessary. Add liquid from 2nd chickpea can until smooth. Olive oil is also a great liquid to use for a smooth hummus. Blend until smooth. Season to taste. Garnish with a drizzle of EVOO, a dash or two of paprika, maybe a kalamata olive or 10?

Of course sun dried tomatoes or roasted bell peppers can be added. Pour out half of the plain hummus from the blender and add tomatoes or peppers. mmm . . .
Enjoy with pita chips, veggies, wraps, etc.

En Guete!

Random Hummus Wraps are what I am eating!

The other night I was cleaning out the freezer in our cellar. I found 2 little American steaks from Germany, a package of bacon with nitrates - how did that get in there?, a cervelat for grilling on field trips from last school year, a package of Nürnburger sausages and two packages of chicken.

As we are eliminating these such products from our home - more on that later - I decided to thaw out the steaks and grill 'em up for the engineer. Not really grill, more like broil. My girls usually love a random steak too so I thought they might enjoy this last one from my kitchen :)

I on the other hand was craving something light and healthy.

My creation - the random hummus wrap!

I love hummus. Maybe a little too much sometimes, perhaps?

We already had the hummus on the table with veggies and pita chips.

I took a tortilla, smeared hummus on it, then opened the fridge and added a few items to my wrap.

Random Hummus Wrap

base - tortilla wrap

sauce - hummus

toppings -

sliced cucumbers

diced avocado

chopped arugula

chopped grape tomatoes

quinoa pilaf (or Spanish rice would be great too)

If I had not just run out of tahini the day before making the hummus I would have made a tahini sauce to drizzle all over the wrap. It was still fabulous and Miss M ended up eating some and loving it.

After I took the picture below I added a spoon full of quinoa pilaf to my wrap and wrapped it up. In case you are not a professional wrap maker or burrito wrapper or an Arizona native (this means you should know how to fold a burrito?) let me give you a hint . . . I had twice as much filling as I should have had.

It was a tad messy but oh so good.

I was eating my random hummus wrap and my family was eating steak, green beans and quinoa pilaf. Miss M said to the engineer that she could not chew through the steak because her teeth would not chew it. He only replied, "that is music to Mommy's ears."

Hummus wraps could definitely be built like a salad bar - everyone gets to choose what toppings they want - think of all the yummy possibilities.

En Guete!

Mediterranean Platters are what's cooking!

One thing I can always find in the store here in Zürich is canned chickpeas. You know what that means? Hummus!

I have tried so many recipes for hummus, here is a basic one from Everyday Food:

Hummus

2 cans drained chickpeas (reserve 1/4 cup liquid)

Place chickpeas and 1/4 cup of reserved liquid in a food processor (aka blendtec at my house)

Add :

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini (well stirred)

2 garlic cloves chopped (I just garlic press them into the blender)

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1 1/4 t. coarse salt

Process until smooth. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

My kids think the garlic tastes "spicy" so I usually use 1 clove!

I love a basic recipe because I can add different things to it.

The picture below is Roasted bell pepper hummus. I added a couple peppers from a jar.

My husband likes the sun dried tomato hummus better. You guessed it, I added some sun dried tomatoes straight out of the jar marinating in oil.

I know it looks like pureed baby food but is is simply delicious!

What does your Mediterranean Platter look like?

Some days our table looks like this.

Other days it looks like this!

I think my family is getting sick of hummus.

It is so quick and easy - I love it!

Guten Appetit - Jenna