One Humdinger of a Hummus!

When I was younger I spoke of certain foods with a certain longing. Why a longing? Because they were foods I hated, but wished I could love. Broccoli is a great example. It’s good for you and it’s just so cute! Sweet little trees. But there was just one problem.

It tasted like dirt.

Didn’t matter if it was raw, steamed, roasted, covered in cheese or dipped in melted butter. Dirt.

It was a little later that I found a determination within me that came out of nowhere. I would learn to like broccoli. So I began the journey to broccoli love.

I wish I could say that a day came when I bit down on that sweet little tree and exclaimed, “By JING! This is totally delicious!”… but I can’t. Do I eat broccoli now? Absolutely. I even enjoy it in quiches and on a white pizza. I thoroughly enjoy a warm bowl of broccoli cheese soup on a cold evening. But I don’t love it by itself.

Alas, my dreams of a broccoli romance have ended. We are, however, good friends. And that’s a big step away from dirt.

I recently decided it would be good to give hummus a try. It’s a dip (I like dips), it’s healthy (I like healthy, most of the time) and people are raving about it (I like the people who are raving about it, though that has nothing to do with me liking hummus). So, on one of my grocery shopping trips I grabbed me a container of sun dried tomato hummus. I brought it home, eager to try something new and to expand my culinary borders.

It tasted like dirt. Not broccoli dirt, but a different variation of dirt. Hummus dirt.

I even tried it on my all-time favorite chip… the corn chip. I can put almost anything on a corn chip and eat it. (I recently dipped a corn chip in melted chocolate…. OH MY.) But alas, my beloved corn chip did not take away from the creamy dirt in my mouth.

On my next grocery excursion, I grabbed roasted garlic hummus. I absolutely l-o-v-e roasted garlic, so how could I go wrong? Just in case, though, I grabbed another bag of corn chips.

Dirt. *sigh*

This hummus was not going to get the better of me. I let the concept bounce around my head for a while. I knew chickpeas didn’t have much flavor, so that couldn’t be the ingredient to blame for the dirt issue. Then it occurred to me… TAHINI. Of course! I researched and researched and as it turns out… I’m not alone! Many people have a problem with tahini.

So here you have it, folks. My version of hummus, sans tahini paste. I LOVE IT. It’s creamy, it’s comforting and it’s bursting with a gentle garlic flavor.

I’m on the hummus bandwagon! I’m part of the Hummus Fan Club! I’m way too excited about hummus!

But I’m thrilled to have conquered another challenge. Hmmm… what’s next? Perhaps avocados. *shudder*

Gluten Free Tahini-Less Roasted Garlic Hummus

15 oz canned chickpeas, drained

3 Tbsp roasted garlic

½ Tbsp lemon or lime juice

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

½ tsp Italian Seasoning

1-2 Tbsp water

Tiny Pinch of Salt

In a food processor, combine the beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and Italian seasoning. Pulse until smooth. If you prefer a looser hummus, add water one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. (I used both TBSPs of water.)

Serve! Makes about 1 ½ cups.