Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Hummus

We’ve been on a hummus kick here lately, buying it pretty much every week.  I recently found out that if you have access to a food processor, it can be prepared super fast and for a fraction of the price of “ready-made” hummus.  Duhhh.  What was I thinking?

Hummus has so many “good for you” things about it; one of them being that it provides Omega 3 fatty acids.  Hummus originated in the Middle East & used to be really hard to find, except for in specialty markets.  Now you can find it in just about any grocery store.  But why pay that hefty price if you don’t have to?

I scoured the web, reading over about 20 different recipes.  Basically I found that the “base” of hummus is cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas), tahini paste (ground sesame seeds), garlic & lemon juice pureed in a food processor.  There are so many different variations of hummus that you can make.  I decided to make sun-dried tomato & basil hummus (because I had fresh basil growing and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes that needed some love!).

And if you’re wondering about this tahini stuff; I found it right beside the peanut butter in my local grocery store.

For my recipe, all you need is:  2 cloves of garlic, a small jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, fresh basil, 2 cans of chickpeas & water.

Throw it all in a food processor, transfer to a bowl, stir in a little of the reserved oil from the sun-dried tomatoes & waalaa! Serve with your favorite pita chips or flat bread.