Chipotle Hummus

There are three things that make hummus truly great to me – first, it’s relatively healthy on its own and with the certain accoutrements, second, it’s a “one-pot” dish and third, it’s almost infinitely adaptable.

Rather than forking over $4+ for a small batch of hummus (albeit, good hummus) at the grocery store, I’ve decided to try to stick to making my own most of the time. Once you’ve purchased tahini and maybe chickpeas, you’re pretty much set with kitchen staples. Not only is it simple to make hummus in a variety of flavors, you can also adjust a recipe based on what ingredients you have.

 

The first time I made this chipotle hummus, I did it without tahini and with the addition of sesame oil. The chipotle peppers give it enough kick that you don’t miss the traditional tahini taste at all. The second time I made this recipe, as written below, it was fantastic. I used a blender rather than a food processor – throwing in all the ingredients at once, blending and adding dashes more of lemon juice, sesame oil, tahini and cumin to taste. It’s essential to constantly taste the hummus to make sure all of the ingredient amounts come together for a final product that’s to your liking.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients

15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

3 tbsp water

3 tbsp tahini*

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sesame oil (another tbsp of olive oil is fine, too)

2 tsp minced canned chipotles in adobo sauce

1 large garlic clove, sliced

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt

Pepper

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

*If you don’t have tahini, don’t worry about it. Just adjust the other ingredients to taste as you go along and find what works for you. If you have it, add more sesame oil.

Preparation

1. In a blender or food processor, add ingredients from chickpeas through cumin and blend or process.

2. Add more wet ingredients to taste and puree or process to reach your desired texture.

3. Transfer to a bowl and, if using, stir in chopped cilantro.

4. Season hummus to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Refrigerate for later use or serve immediately with whatever you like – sliced pita bread, pita chips, bagel chips, or spread it on a sandwich for uber goodness.