Friday Food #15

It has recently come to my attention that there are some people out there who have been disappointed that I have been less than consistent in posting my Friday Food segments.  I always have good excuses, for example, two weeks ago it was my birthday and on my birthday, if I don’t feel like blogging, them I’m not going to blog!  Then last Friday I got up close and personal with my kitchen floor and a few of my friendly neighborhood emergency responders, so I was a little preoccupied.

I guess what I hadn’t realized is that there are quite a few people who actually like and look forward to my Friday Food posts, other than the few friends and family members that I already knew about.  When I don’t post, I’ve never thought I was really letting anyone down.  So before I talk food, I’m going to ask you a favor.  If you read my blog, would you mind clicking on the followers list so that I know exactly who is reading these posts?  It will help me to have a better idea of what kinds of topics I should write about in this weekly segment if I know who my audience is!  If you are reading this in a blog reader like Bloglines or GoogleReader, then just click into my blog and find the followers section.  Thank you!

And now let’s talk hummus.  It’s no secret that I’m a fan.  Not only is it delicious, but it is chock-full of good stuff.  Garbanzo beans are great sources of fiber, folate, protein, and iron.  I’ve tried most hummus brands that are available at the grocery stores and they’re okay, but one of the best kinds I’ve had is at a local bagel shop here in Charlotte.  There is a fabulous sandwich there called the Aunt Beanie and it has tomatoes, avocado, sprouts, and their delicious homemade hummus on a steamed whole wheat bagel.  It is perfection with a hole in the middle.

I’ve never quite recreated that hummus, but over the course of the last couple of months, I have experimented extensively with making my own hummus.  I’ve tried all different spice combinations and have even tried using peanut butter or sunflower seed butter instead of tahini (if the other spices are right, you won’t taste it).  A recent favorite I’ve come up with is a take on sun-dried tomato basil hummus.  I’ve always loved that combination of flavors, but sun-dried tomatoes aren’t cheap and I rarely have them on hand.  So one day I got the bright idea to add some marinara sauce to the hummus.  I used Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Marinara and then added some extra basil, some garlic, a little sunflower seed butter, and it was actually VERY good.  Another spice combo we like is curry and cumin.  It’s a very Indian-tasting hummus.

The next hummus flavor I’d like to attempt is smoked paprika.  Our local grocery store has their own store brand’s hummus and this is by far my favorite of their flavors.  I never thought paprika had that much flavor, but apparently when you smoke it, it comes to life!  WOW!

In my searches for different hummus recipes, I cam across the Guinness book’s world record for the largest plate of hummus.  How fun would it be to have a party with a plate of hummus this big for everyone to dig into?

Making your own hummus is SO much cheaper than buying it.  I have tried cooking the dried garbanzo beans (and that is the most economical way to do it) but since I’m not always that prepared, I usually just used the canned kind.  A can of garbanzo beans costs me about 69 cents and that makes almost a 16 ounce container of hummus.  In comparison, you can pay $2.99 (or more!) for just 8 ounces of hummus in a store!

If you’d like to learn more about making hummus or find some great recipes, there really are TONS swarming around the web.  My friend Emily even posted some great hummus tips on my recipe blog a couple weeks ago.  And check this out-- here is an entire blog that is completely devoted to all things hummus!