Lighter Hummus

I love hummus. SO MUCH. It's good with pretty much anything. It makes vegetables taste better and crackers seem healthier. You can add it to a sandwich or eat it straight up. It's pretty magical.
I have another hummus recipe on the blog that is a sort of basic recipe that you can go to when you want hummus. This is exactly the same but made a little lighter. We use a little bit more olive oil so we get the health benefits from that but less tahini and we skip the liquid from the can, which has a little bit of sodium in it.

Note: I recently read an article about how most of the olive oil in the US is fake, meaning cut with other cheaper oils. This website shows the list of the bad and good ones. This California Olive Ranch olive oil was one of the highest rated olive oils. I use it only for eating raw, like in a salad, pesto or hummus.

Ingredients
-1 clove of garlic, smashed and peeled
-1 15oz can of garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed
-3 tablespoon of lemon juice
-3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
-1 tablespoon tahini (I bought this tahini at a really awesome Middle-Eastern/West African restaurant called La Superette Halal Market in Lowell, MA. My boyfriend and I saw it on a local show called Chronicle and decided to drive up to see what the buzz was about. The food was INSANE!! Everything was so flavorful and the owner makes everything form scratch herself. It is a really small place but what it lacks in space, it more than makes up for with great food and super friendly service. If you're ever around the area you should definitely check them out!)
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-Freshly ground pepper to taste
-1 or more tablespoons of water

Directions
-Turn your food processor on and drop the garlic in there, mincing it up really well. If you don't have a food processor you can make this in a blender.

-Add your chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, salt and pepper.

-Process until you reach the desired consistency, I like it very smooth. You may have to add one or two tablespoons of water to get there.

YUM!! Hummus is great because you can eat it with anything. Veggies, crackers, a salad, in a sandwich, in a wrap, with falafel, or just a side with some whole grains. A great way to get more vegetables in your diet is to cut all the veggies you want and store them in the fridge so they're ready for you to eat.

You could also mix it up by adding more garlic or more lemon juice, roast garlic and then add that in. You could make it really spicy by adding hot sauce or cayenne pepper. You could make basil pesto hummus, edamame hummus, avocado hummus, olive hummus, nutty hummus, chipotle, sundried tomato, jalapeno, spinach, artichoke and even salsa hummus!!! Have a hummus party and make all the different varieties, just make sure you invite me!

6 servings: 1/4 cup each.
Nutritional Info: 144 calories, 9g fat, 1g sat, 6g mono, 0 cholesterol, 13g carbs, 0 added sugar, 3g protein, 3g fiber, 298mg sodium, 113mg potassium