Yummus

Today was a great day. I weighed myself this morning to discover I’m down 21 pounds! That’s over 1/3 of the way to my long-term goal! Woohoo! To add the proverbial cherry on top, Carl hopped on the scale after I weighed myself and said, “look! Carl little, mommy big!”

….

That’s my boy. Always there with that encouraging word.

Of course, I hopped right on Facebook to announce my 21 pounds lost to the world, when I got to chatting with a Facebook friend of mine. That little chat left me inspired.

I was going to make homemade hummus. Today. And I was going to savor it, to celebrate my loss.

Now, before we get knee-deep in hummus, let me recant my hummus experience with you, because it is not extensive. Hummus and I do not know each other very well. We’re only acquaintances.

I have only ever had store-bought hummus, and it’s always been pretty mediocre. Nothing to write home about. I’ve never been overly impressed with it, nor have I ever been compelled to try to make it myself. It was just one of those foods that I would try if it was available, but that I wouldn’t go out to the store to specifically buy for myself.

I peeked into my pantry, and lo and behold, there it was. The sad and lonely can of garbanzo beans that had been pushed aside so many times in favor of other provisions. It looked so excited to finally be picked, not unlike me in PE in elementary school.

I did a little bit of research before I dove in head first. I knew the basics of what went in it, but I wasn’t 100% sure what to do with the sesame seeds. I discovered that the pureed sesame seed-olive oil blend that most hummus contains is called tahini. And I promptly decided to make a tahini-free hummus, because I had no desire to bake and pulverize a whole mess of sesame seeds. I was trying to make a quick, easy snack. Alright, fine, I was being lazy. Whatever.

I chose all (five) ingredients I needed from the pantry, pulled out my Magic Bullet, and then… oh, then. The magic happened.

It was so beautiful. So creamy. It smelled so rich.

I had to have it in my mouth. Right then and there. All of it.

So, like the grown, mature woman I am, I started eating it out of the Magic Bullet with my finger.

And I died. It was like garbanzo-olive oil-died and gone to heaven goodness, all up in my mouth.

I was looking for something to dip in it, so I wouldn’t keep sticking my finger in it like a neanderthal. I did a quick inventory of my cabinets, but only came up with Ritz crackers, which I wasn’t too keen on. Then I discovered the perfect dipper…

And I proceeded to eat 500 cucumber slices dipped in hummus.

(Please excuse my super unmanicured, hummus covered finger. I like to keep it classy. Clearly.)

It was divine. I ate about 1/4 of the recipe, then I put it away for fear that I may eat the whole thing and turn myself off of it. Although I don’t think that’s possible. In fact, I may go have some more after I post this.

Here’s the recipe!

Five Minute, Five Ingredient Yummus (Yes, it’s yummus. It isthatgood.)

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained (hold onto the bean juice in a separate container)

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic (the three cloves gave it a pretty garlicky taste. If you are not that big a fan of garlic, you can add less.)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

7-8 kalamata olives (optional)

Dump everything into your Magic Bullet/blender/weapon of choice and puree that baby right up. I used the bean juice to get it to my preferred consistency. You can opt to leave out the kalamata olives entirely, or you can add something different to it. I would imagine roasted red peppers or sun dried tomatoes would be good in it, too. Or anything really. I mean, you really should’ve seen me licking the inside of the Magic Bullet like a lunatic.

I was also delighted to find that I was not the only hummus lover in the house.

It appears that Leland, too, is a fan of my five minute yummus. Although I have to admit, he’s never turned down any type of food before in his life. I knew he inherited something from me.