Summer is HERE

Hey y'all!

First off, *Happy Summer*.  It's here.  It's actually felt here since May, but this past week, it's official!

Spring 2016 has flown by in a whirlwind of baby & more baby.  The little man has grown so much in the past few months and I have been busy trying to think of activities to keep him busy.  By the way... to any potential moms... the summer seems to super charge children.  Some nights he is up until 9 pm and then awake at 6 am.  Help me, help me, help me.

Some days we're just trying to get through the day and some are more fruitful.  Today was one of those.  I managed to whip up some homemade hummus and a Greek rice salad that I am deeply in love with.  Repeat after me:  the more feta, the betta'.   Seriously.

I'm going dedicate this post to my favourite hummus recipe.  I will work on a blog for my Greek rice salad next!  

The Best Hummus

I love LOVE hummus.  It's versatile as both a snack and condiment.  Sure, it's easier to grab a container of it from the grocery store, but you get a bunch of unnecessary ingredients in store bought hummus...plus, the whole listeria scare. 

So here you go.  For hummus to be truly successful and smooth, you need to use a good blender to make it.  I have a Vitamix, but a Blendtec or Ninja would probably work just as well.


Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas (drained & rinsed) or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas 
• 1/4 fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup well-stirred tahini
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• salt to taste
•  1/2 TSP ground cumin
• 2 to 3 TBSP water
• paprika

The trick is to let the tahini whip up a bit on it's own.  It creates a lovely smooth texture. 

Directions Add tahini and lemon juice to blender.  Allow to process for one minute on their own.  Slowly add garlic, olive oil, salt and chick peas.  Add water slowly to reach desired consistency.  Blend until smooth.  Once in serving dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle paprika on top.

Notes
*I personally do not enjoy the taste of cumin so I do not add it! 
*I love the taste of lemon so I add a bit extra lemon juice
*I grab my tahini from Fortinos
*Any food processor/blender can make hummus.  The higher end machine though, the smoother the product.  Chickpeas can take quite a bit of blender to work out that grainy texture.

*If you want to avoid using tahini, try adding another smooth substance like avocado or even natural peanut butter

Enjoy!