I love chickpeas – they’re low GI and high in fibre and protein and they are cheap 🙂 I love their nutty flavour and the crunch they have when they are roasted. I add them to casseroles and stews and eat them several times a week in my morning tea, so I am not sure why it hasn’t occurred to me before to make my own hummus!

See below the recipe for a few variations on the original too.

• 400g tin drained and rinsed chick peas 
• 1 tsp tahini
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 good pinch maldon salt, and
• 1 good squeeze lemon juice (about 1/2 the juice from a medium lemon)

Add all ingredients to the food processor and blitz until well combined and smooth. (In a Thermal cooker – Speed 4 for 10 seconds, the scrape down sides and use speed 5 for 15 second intervals, scraping down sides in between until you reach desired consistency).

The citric acid in the lemon will help to preserve the mix so it will store in an air tight container in the fridge for several days.

This makes about 8 serves (a heaped dessert spoon full).

We have it with crunchy raw veggies or wholegrain Sakata rice crackers.

Enjoy!

For a variation on plain hummus:

• Add in about 120g of cooked beetroot (even the tinned variety works), a tsp of fresh rosemary and 1/2 tsp of mince garlic. Blend to desired consistency.
• Add in about 120g of steamed pumpkin and a handful of pumpkin seeds. Blend to desired consistency.