Cook Because You Care: Hummus Yummus: WHY it's great, HOW to make it yourself, & WHAT to put it on

I officially introduce you to the AMAZING garbanzo bean, or if you prefer, chickpea. What's the lineup on this wonder food?

High in protein (8.9 g of protein/100 g of garbanzo beans) making these bad boys an excellent source of protein if you are a veggie/vegan or a great meat substitute for those following "meatless mondays" or cutting back on meat intake
Low in saturated fats (bad fats) and high in polyunsaturated fats (good fats) which means they help to lower bad cholesterol and help fight heart disease (see previous blog article "good fats bad fats")
High in Zinc, a nutrient of "exceptional biologic and public health importance"
High in Folate (helps our DNA reproduce and repair itself properly, makes healthy red blood cells, and prevents neural tube defects of newborns)
High in dietary fiber, making this a great source of healthy slow-acting carbs for anyone with diabetes or insulin resistance

If you grew up in India you would be quite familiar with garbanzo beans as they're the basis for several Indian dishes. But if you're anything like me, every time my mom mentioned the word hummus, the word itself simply turned me off from eating it. I'm not sure where my hummus craze began or why, but now years later, hummus is a very integral part of my diet. It's delicious, filling, and like all the above reasons mentioned, great for my health in so many ways. This time I decided to make my own and here's how you can too.

Preparation:

If you're going for the freshest of the fresh taste, I would recommend buying garbanzo beans from the bulk section of your grocery store, which not only saves you money but also saves the world from excess packaging. They come in dried form, so you need to soak the beans overnight

Equipment:

You are going to need a food processor for this one. I have a trusty Cuisinart

Ingredients:

Basic Hummus Ingredients are:

Garbanzo beans
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Garlic
Tahini

But you can experiment at bit. I'm not one to follow measurments closely or follow recipes all that often, but I listed a link to epicurious below if you are the type to do this. I had some fun by making three different kinds of hummus. White bean hummus, Red Pepper Hummus, and Garlic Pesto Hummus. In all cases, I added the above ingredients and then that special ingredient to make it a different flavor.

Red Pepper Hummus Recipe

This was my first hummus, I pureed some white beans with lemon juice and garlic, then the pic below is me adding the garbanzo beans and the tahini.

This is the first step of my red pepper hummus. I first sauteed the red peppers in grape seed oil (good for cooking at high temperatures), cut them, and then put them in the processor, then added the rest of the ingredients to finish it off

My finished product: Two white bean hummus containers on top, One big red pepper hummus in the middle,a nd two containers of garlic pesto hummus on the side...

Now What?

Enjoy in the following ways: