Hummus

Who knew?  So much happiness from one little can.  Easy and delicious.  Did I mention easy?  I speak of homemade hummus.

You can make it fancy.  You can add stuff - roasted garlic, olives, chocolate chips, lemon zest, whatever you'd like.  Or you can make it bare bones plain.

I made it bare bones plain this weekend.  Just the basics.  Just pure goodness.

Just the thing to munch on when you're watching your Dear Honey's football team play in the finals.  Even though it should have been your team.  Because your team had such a great season.  And your quarterback had all those first downs all by himself last week.  And your team put so much heart into the game.  And it's not fair.  Because it really should have been your team - and not your Dear Honey's team.  And if they were playing today, the other team would be going down - big time!  Because my team could most certainly kick their...  But I digress.

So here's what you need:

1 can of chick peas
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/8 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Open the can of chick peas.

Pour it into a pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.

The skins on the chick peas will start to pop off.  It's done.  There will still be some liquid left in the pan. Don't toss it out - you may need it.

Use a slotted spoon to get the chick peas out of the pot and put them in a bowl.  Add the minced garlic.

Add the lemon juice.  And add the salt.  Normally I would also add some tahini - 2 Tablespoons, but I forgot to get some tahini when I was in the city, so I'm skipping it.  It'll still work.

Start mashing it up.  Keep mashing it up until it is the consistency you want.  I like mine with a few chunks of chick peas in it, so I use the potato masher.  If you like yours perfectly silky smooth, you may want to do this in a food processor instead of a bowl.  Or you could still use the potato masher and just get rid of some of those feelings about having to watch your Dear Honey's team in the playoffs.  I guarantee it will come out as smooth as silk quicker than you can say "Touchdown!"

Drizzle in about 1/2 of the olive oil and mash it some more until it is all mashed together.  If it is too thick, add a teaspoon or so of the liquid left over in the pan (not more olive oil - you'll need that in a minute).  I wanted mine a little thick, so I didn't add any liquid.

Put the hummus in a serving bowl.

Pour the rest of the olive oil over it.  It not only adds a little more flavor to the hummus, it acts as sort of a sealant from the air so the hummus doesn't dry out.

I went a little crazy and dusted it with paprika.  I'm just a wild child when it comes to hummus.

Warm hummus - nutty, lemony.

That's the good stuff.