Hummus: Your New Best Friend

I love chickpeas. Yes, you read that right. Chickpeas.  I am certain that they are my new best friend. Netflix is my new love; chickpeas are my best friend forever. Canned chickpeas at that. I had to read that twice. In my former life for a cold and rainy Friday night I would have made sure that I had a pack of cigarettes in my handbag, a bottle of sparkling in the fridge and a huge bag of chips in the cupboard.  How times can change.

You see chickpeas make hummus. Hummus is now my favourite meal when I want a special Friday night with Netflix.  With hummus I do not feel like I am depriving myself of anything, in fact I definitely feel like I am treating myself.  I even have this amazing looking recipe for Baked Falafel that also uses tinned chickpeas.  I have not tried it yet, but can you see now why I truly consider chickpeas to be vital to my existence?

Since I have started pursuing my new vegan lifestyle, I tend to spend a little bit more money on better quality items. I buy beautiful Turkish Bread and always have it in the freezer.  I make sure I have olives and pickled onions in the fridge and I buy expensive oils. The two oils I am allowed are flax seed oil (cannot withstand any heat) and olive oil (good for oven but never the frypan) and I buy the best of the best. So when I think of a lazy Friday night, I know I have bread to be lightly warmed in the oven with a light spray of olive oil; I have the olives, and the pickled onions for accompaniments. And I have chickpeas – so I have hummus.

Foolproof Hummus:

1 can chickpeas

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of tahini

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

2 – 3 tablespoons of water

2 – 3 tablespoons of oil

Combine all ingredients in a kitchen whizz and blend.  Then lastly dribble the oil in as it is blending.

To be honest I don’t use a recipe anymore, but that is the original recipe I started with. I tend to use a lot of oil as I like to pretend I am of Mediterranean descent and very exotic and that is how they do it. In all honesty I just love olive oil. So play around with the basic recipe and you will find a hummus you love. It can be used for so many occasions such as a lazy Friday night when it is just you and Netflix.