It took me ages to make my own hummus but now there’s no going back! The commercial brands I used to love now taste salty and sloppy. Hummus is really healthy and really easy – so long as you have a food processor. Even blokes will eat it with crackers or instead of butter on bread. I love it with tuna and tomato in a grainy bread roll – yum!!!

This recipe is adapted from my friend Sarah who is a food stylist and cook extraordinaire.  We used to do cooking demos together (she did the cooking, I did the nutrition). At one of our demos to around 150 women we made this recipe and everyone loved it.

All you have to do is put these ingredients into a food processor – and blend! Drizzle in the oil last.

1 x 400g can chick peas

A fantastic food for fibre, folate, iron and protein.

2 tablespoons tahini

Tahini is ground up sesame seeds. It tastes awful on its own but tastes great in hummus. It provides lots of healthy unsaturated and essential fats. ‘Essential fats’ are essential for our body and the only way to get them is to eat them! Keep tahini in the fridge so all that healthy fat doesn’t go rancid.

4-5 cloves roasted garlic

I know this sounds like hard work but it’s not. Put a whole garlic head on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes at 180C (350F). I often do it when I’m cooking something else. If you’re not making hummus immediately, you can store the roasted garlic in the fridge for a couple of days.

Juice of 1 lemon

I like plenty of lemon juice

3-4 tablespoons chopped parsley, basil or coriander

If you have herbs growing in your garden use more than this – I do!

Salt and pepper to taste

You shouldn’t need much. If you live in New Zealand use iodised salt – we need the iodine. Commercial foods usually use non-iodised salt so there’s another plus for making your own.

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

The oil makes the hummus more creamy. I actually like it with less oil and more texture. I always use a really good quality (expensive) olive oil for foods that don’t need cooking. It really makes a difference to the flavour and nutritional value.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Final photo of it, click here …