Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

Hummus is one of the easiest and healthiest foods you can make. Although it’s most commonly used as a dip, it can also be used it as a spread and/or condiment to have with sandwiches, wraps, and even a nice little addition to have with your eggs in the morning (my personal fav).

On top of its versatility and health benefits (chickpeas are a power house of nutrients) hummus is  just a fun and delicious little treat to make that can be whipped up in a couple of minutes; and  once you know how to make hummus from scratch you’ll probably wonder why it took you so long to make it in the first place lol!

One thing to know before making hummus is that you’ll need to use either a food processor, a blender or an immersion blender at the very least. Ideally you’d like to use a food processor which is better suited for more heavy duty blending  (like making dips, doughs and butters). But, if you don’t have a food processor you can use a strong blender, but it might take a little longer to mash the chickpeas (blenders are more suited for soups, purees, and smoothies).

If you don’t own a food processor or a blender you can opt to use an immersion blender, but be aware that it will take A LOT longer to make your hummus and you’ll have to mash your chickpeas separately with a little water, drain the excess water then add your remaining ingredients.

If you don’t have any of the small appliances listed above you might want to hold off on making hummus until you do, and consider investing in one of these essential items in the near future since they’re pretty essential tools. I’ll follow up with a post in the next couple of weeks outlining the difference uses for the three appliances in detail so you can make an educated purchase based on your needs.

The recipe  below is pretty simple, and although this is a cilantro flavored hummus you can easily make this a plain hummus by omiting the cilantro (it will still be delicious). You can also choose to replace the cilantro and experiment  with other flavours like roasted garlic, red peppers, caramelized onions and so on to spice things up; the options are limited to your imagination so go ahead and have fun with this recipe!

This is a really really easy little treat to whip up that only requires a few simple ingredients, so enjoy the recipe and have fun making it!

Drain your chickpeas and rinse them thoroughly in a colander with cold water.

When you open a can of chickpeas (or any beans really) you’ll immediately notice that they’re preserved in a thick, slimy liquid. The liquid is nothing to worry about as it’s just salt, water and the natural starch from the chickpeas (or beans), but it doesn’t have a very good taste so unless you rinse your chickpeas that taste will transfer into your hummus (yuck).

So do yourself a huge favour and take an extra minute to rinse your chickpeas, it’ll make a HUGE difference, not only in taste but it will also removed any excess sodium from the brine.

Let the chickpeas dry for a couple minutes in a colander then toss them into your food processor with all the other ingredients except the oil and start blending. Once the chickpeas are broken up and granular slowly add  your olive oil as the machine is running; this will help smoothen out the hummus.

Once all the oil has been added, stop your machine, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again until the texture is nice and smooth,  then add a little salt if needs be and serve immediately with a little olive oil drizzled on top and/or cover and refrigerate to enjoy later!

Pretty easy right?! That’s all there is to making homemade hummus! Remember if you want to get  creative with this recipe feel free to play around with the flavor by adding whatever you like, or if you’re looking for something a more basic just omit the cilantro! I hope you have fun with this recipe and let me know in the comments how you like your hummus!