Hummus Or hummous, if you like. It's a pasty middle eastern concoction usually eaten with bread or vegetables. I like it quite a lot. Considering the first time I had it was in the fall of 2003, I've eaten quite a bit of it. Ingredients 2 cups garbanzo beans (see notes) 6 cloves garlic 4 Tablespoons lemon juice 3 Tablespoons tahini 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt olive oil pita bread, carrots, feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, other dipping stuff Would It Make Any Difference if it Were Taramosalata? Put the beans, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, paprika and salt in a food process or blender. In a pinch, you can use a ricer and a hand masher, but it's way faster done with electricity. Blend until it's an even paste. Best way to serve is spread out in a layer on a plate and drizzled with olive oil then sprinkled with just a touch of paprika. Grab some bread or veggies and dig in! Notes and Hints and Stuff Garbanzo what? True story: For years, I thought of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) as kind of disgusting to eat because when I was in second grade, we used dried ones as counters. We'd get one when we were good and then put it in a jar. When the jar was full, we got a party. Who would EAT those? Ew. Anyway. You can get them pre-cooked in cans at the store, located with the other beans, or you can get them dried in with the dried beans and rice. I recommend dried because they're cheaper and it's more fun (plus I think they taste better), but if you're in a hurry the cans will do fine. Um, great. What do I do with dried beans? Take about half a pound of dried garbanzos. Put them in water and rinse them. Check for bad ones and stones or pebbles. Discard anything that isn't a bean. Cover the beans in 6-8 cups of water, and leave them to soak for 6-8 hours. I leave mine overnight, whatever works. Then put them on the stove in the same water you soaked them in, turn it on medium heat, and cook for about an hour and a half. Voila. There are generally instructions on the back of the bag, too, but this is how I do it. Cooking in the soaking water retains more of the nutrients, that's about all. Just doesn't look as nice. How much garlic, really? Original recipe I had called for 3 cloves. Not enough in my book. Honestly, 6 wasn't even enough. I wound up putting in about the equivalent of 12 cloves. Just add some, then taste it. Adjust to your own preference. I love garlic, so 3 wasn't enough. However, my friend Shawna makes hummous with so much garlic your breath could peel paint at 50 paces...tastes vary. Everything to taste I don't actually measure anything except the beans and tahini. Everything else is to taste. These are the approximate portions I use.