Hummus, Mellow on the Garlic

I haven't been able to find my favorite, mellow-on-the-garlic hummus at the grocery the last several weeks, so I finally decided to make some myself. Starting with those hard little garbanzo bean nuggets from the bins takes a little advance planning, but wow! Are they ever delicious! You have not tasted a garbanzo bean until it soaks, cooks and plumps under your own control. They have a wonderful fresh taste and texture you just can't get out of a nasty old can.

Hummus
makes about 3 cups

3 cups garbanzo beans (preferably home cooked)
½ cup water
¼ cup tahini or cashew butter
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed through garlic press
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin

1. Put garbanzos, tahini or cashew butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and cumin in the workbowl of a food processor and puree. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the ½ cup water until you get a smooth consistency. (You may not use all the water, or you may need a couple more tablespoons – see what you like.)

Store tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Keeps a couple weeks.

Amy's Kitchen Coach Tips

• If you haven’t yet cooked beans for yourself, garbanzos are a very satisfying first experience. You’ll find the dry garbanzos in the bulk area of your grocery. Buy about 2 cups of dry beans (approximately 1 pound). Recipe for preparing them follows. Just be warned. It will be very difficult to return to the canned ones once you’ve tasted home cooked.
  
  
• Serve with toasted pita bread and olives (the bright green Castelvetranos I’ve been finding at Whole Foods are delicious – very rich and buttery) and a few of your remaining whole garbanzos.
  
  
• Cooking beans. Choose one of the following soaking methods:
  

• Overnight Soak

Set the bean bowl in the fridge overnight. The next day, dump the beans into a colander and discard the soaking liquid. Beans are ready to cook.

• Quick Soak

Put the beans into a large stockpot and fill the pot with water to cover the beans by 4 – 5 inches. Over medium high heat, boil the beans for 3 minutes then turn off the heat, cover the pot and let beans sit for at least 1 hour, ideally 4 – 12 hours (I know, that’s not exactly “quick”, but beans are a zen food…enjoy the pace!

• Cook the beans. (This method assumes you are using 1 pound of dry beans, which will yield 4 – 6 cups cooked beans. If you want to make more, just increase the salt accordingly.)

1. Rinse beans, discarding soaking water.
2. Slowcooker: Place beans in slow cooker and add fresh water to cover beans by an inch or two. Stir in 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook on low heat setting for 8 hours.
   Stovetop: Place beans in dutch oven or large stockpot. Add fresh water to cover beans by an inch or two and boil gently until tender, usually 1 – 1 ½ hours.
3. Once tender, drain and discard any remaining water. Beans will keep in refrigerator for several days, or freeze part of them for another time.