When Life Hands You Lemons...Make Hummus.

I drove through the snow this morning, listening to NPR as usual. I stop at a traffic light and cradle my warm hazelnut latte in my hands, taking a sip of sweet happiness. Maya Angelou is on the Diane Rehm show and is a beautiful, positive spirit. She’s just so full of joy and peace. She tells us young people do never get disheartened, because that is when we’re susceptible to negativity. Listening to her lifts my spirits, the flurries are soothing, the coffee is delicious…everything is perfect.

A few moments to myself and out of the office. Sigh.

The show ends and the news begins. Dire reports of the state of the economy, GM desperately begging for help, and jobless claims at a 14-year high fill the car. I’m still admittedly fuzzy on this whole economy thing and how it affects someone like me – I have no retirement or investments to speak of and live a modest, simple life. Like those attacks seven years ago, I’m not sure what this all means but I am aware that it is Bad News.

After listening to Maya Angelou’s infectious, unfailing positivity, I attempt to look on the bright side – how can I spend even less money? It will be like a fun challenge! We’re not in great financial shape anyway, what with my paltry stipend and Mike’s going to graduate school – so the fact that we have to worry about the job market means we have even more reason to scale our spending back.

So, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite ways to cut the food bill: make my own hummus! Hummus can be steeply priced for the ingredients that are in it, plus it invariably comes in small amounts in plastic containers, many times in unrecyclable plastic containers. No good!

Making your own hummus is incredibly easy (I promise!) and you can make it in bigger batches than those little “eight” (more like two!) serving containers.

Ashley’s Hummus

Ingredients:

2-3 cups Chickpeas

2-3 tablespoons Olive oil

2-3 cloves Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Cumin (optional)

1 tablespoon Lemon juice

½ cup or so Tahini (likely the only thing not found in your pantry – it’s sesame seed paste. Look in the health or ethnic food section.)

Water, as needed.

Oh-so-Simple Directions:

Add chickpeas garlic (minced or cut in a few pieces), and tahini to a food processor (ETA: Or blender). Add a little water and olive oil to help it blend. Stop when it gets to a regular hummus consistency. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cumin. Blend more. Ta-da! Delicious and nutritious. Cheap, too!