It's all Greek to me...

**NOTE** Last night, I decided to try out the mozzarella recipe that I posted yesterday. I would like to offer some advice. If you use lemon juice, use about 3 teaspoons instead of the 1 1/2 that I listed in the recipe. Otherwise the milk can take about 45 minutes to curdle, instead of the 20 listed in the recipe. Of course, if you are using citric acid, please stick to the recipe.

Now, on to the real post

I also decided last night to try making my own hummus. My husband and I go through tubs of hummus like it's water. And I don't know if anyone else is really into hummus, but it gets EXPENSIVE! So again, I did some research. And again, it turns out to be quite easy (and cheaper) to make your own at home.

Fresh Hummus

2 cloves garlic—roughly chopped (or 1 tsp jarred minced garlic)
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup water
14 oz (400g) canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)—rinsed and drained
½ cup tahini
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt


PLACE all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally.

Variations: If you like a spicier hummus, add a small red chili (chopped) or a pinch of cayenne pepper, or try a little cumin for a more exotic variation.

*Prepare extra quantities of this hummus—it can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 week and frozen for up to 3 months. Because the tahini was only available in a 32 oz jar, I bought the ingredients to make more than the recipe calls for. I wound up making three full 20 oz tubs. It will be gone in no time.

Because some of the ingredients have to be purchased at a health-food store (mainly, the tahini paste), I decided to do a little price break-down for any naysayers that might argue that it couldn't be cheaper than going pre-made. (These are the prices that I paid, they may vary in other areas)

Tahini- $11.49 for a 32 oz jar
Chickpeas- $.79 per can (I used three cans)
Garlic- $3.35 for a 4 oz jar (the recipe uses about a half ounce, but i like garlic so I used the whole jar)
Lemon juice (bottled)- $1.16 for a 15 ounce bottle
Olive oil-$4.48 for a small bottle (The recipe calls for about 1/8 of a regular size small bottle)
--total grocery bill = $22.85

This comes out to about 38 cents per ounce (for the amount that I made (60 oz)

The typical grocery store tub is $3.99 for a 7 ounce tub. That's 57 cents per ounce. To buy as much hummus at the store as I made today would cost you $34.20. That's a 12 dollar difference! I don't think I'll be buying hummus anymore!

If you have any questions, or recipes you'd like to see, leave a comment!

-Happy Cooking!-