Hummus Recipe: any bean will do!

.
Hummus is so easy to make, so good for you, and kids will even eat it (except the pickiest kids)!

Hummus is traditionally made with Garbanzo Beans (also known as chick peas), extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, and salt.  Sometimes other things are added, such as Tahini paste, spices, or other vegetables.

For this batch, I did something totally different.  I had a batch of leftover, cooked lima beans.  I thought, "why not"?  It won't kill us!  Actually, it turned out to be really delicious.  I'm starting to believe that hummus is hard to screw up, even when you play around with the ingredients. 

Hummus is a dip that can be served with everything from pita bread to chips to cut up fresh veggies.

Basic Hummus
-Cooked bean of choice
-Extra-virgin olive oil
-Few cloves of fresh garlic
-Salt

Directions:
To make the hummus, add beans to a food processor.  Then add a little olive oil & drop in a clove of garlic.  Turn the food processor on.  You'll be able to tell if there is not enough olive oil.  Keep adding olive oil until there is enough to produce a smooth consistency.  Then taste it.  Does it need more cloves of garlic?  Also, start adding a little salt.  Taste again until you're happy with the amount of salt & garlic.  Enjoy!

Here are some variations on the basic recipe above:
-Jalapeno Hummus: add a couple of canned jalapenos
-Southwest Hummus: make with black beans, add spices such as chili powder & cumin
-Tahini Hummus: add some tahini paste (it's made with sesame seeds, check your natural foods store)
-experiment!  What's leftover in your fridge?  :-)