Z's Kitchen » garbanzo beans http://www.zskitchen.com A look into a mostly healthy, whole foods, plant based kitchen. Sun, 22 Aug 2010 09:05:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Basic Reduced Fat Hummus http://www.zskitchen.com/2008/12/basic-reduced-fat-hummus/ http://www.zskitchen.com/2008/12/basic-reduced-fat-hummus/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:51:53 +0000 Z http://www.zskitchen.com/?p=102 I love hummus, but have avoided it in restaurants because of the amount of olive oil used. While it’s true that olive oil is considered a “good fat”, I still don’t want excessive fat in my diet.  When I made hummus at home, although it tasted great, I never got the same smooth consistency that the restaurants offered. Now, I am getting that extra smooth hummus by using beans cooked from scratch and making the hummus in the Vitamix instead of in my food processor.  I cook the beans longer than the suggested time, so they are softer than I might otherwise want for most recipes.

This makes a great dip for carrots, celery, cucumber sticks, pita wedges or tortilla chips. It’s also great spread on a pita or other sandwich. One of my favorites is toasted whole wheat bread spread with hummus and topped with cucumbers, tomatoes and some sprouts or a thin slice of avocado.  Here’s my basic hummus recipe, but the ingredients are very flexible, so try whatever variations sound good.

Basic Reduced Fat Hummus

15 ounce can of garbanzo beans
OR 280 grams of garbanzo beans cooked from dried beans
2 T tahini
4 T lemon juice
1 T minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth. This should keep well in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days, but ours doesn’t usually last that long.

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