Hooray for Hummus!

Work has been picking up for me lately. I work in the Birth-Three system as a teacher, where I visit children with special needs in their home or daycare. Being part time, there are times where I only have one child on my roster. Recently, I am up to five!

Working so closely with these children and their parents is sometimes difficult, but always rewarding. I love, love, love my job. Even when things get a little weird. Walking into someone's home every day, you never know what you are going to encounter. I can write a whole blog on just that subject! But since this one is supposed to revolve around food and Auntie Ina, I will have to get to the point and make my connection right about now.

This week I started working with a new family who happen to come from Egypt. When I went to my first visit at their home, the mother served my co-workers and I some homemade hummus. She even brought out the olive oil and drizzled it over the top of the bowl. It was amazing.

Since that day I have been craving more of that yummy goodness. Fortunately, I remembered that one of the first recipes in Auntie's cookbook was for hummus. I had made it years ago and made a note in the book that I preferred the kind that was store-bought. I figured if I didn't remember what the problem was with it, I should try it again and see what the problem was.

Well, it was certainly easy enough to make. All you need is a food processor. The few ingredients are tahini, chick peas, fresh lemon juice, garlic, Tabasco and salt. Tahini is sesame paste, and usually found in the Middle Eastern section of the store. If your regular store is a small one like mine, you'll probably find it on the shelf in the Kosher section.

Here are all of the ingredients ready to be pulverized...

Literally no effort. No chopping (if you use the frozen minced garlic like I do) or anything! Super easy.

HO-LY cow. This was amazing. I have no idea what I did the first time I made it all those years ago, but I have a sneaking suspicion I used lemon juice from a bottle. Auntie makes a point of insisting you use fresh lemons, as it makes a big difference in the taste. Guess I should have listened to her in the first place! As usual, she uses WAAAY too much salt and I fell for it again. If you make this, you MUST cut the salt in half. Even with it being too salty, I loved this hummus. I dipped pita in it, carrots, even chicken. At 95 calories for 1/4 of a cup it isn't a diet-buster. Way to go, Auntie! This one is a keeper in my book.

Here is the link to the recipe, and remember....cut the salt!

Hummus