Mary’s Hummus with Toasted Pita Chips (recipe by “Oishii!”)

My friend Mary from Klassy Cut in the Andersonville neighborhood taught me how to make her hummus. It’s as easy as pulsing a food processor, and unlike the flat flavor of store bought hummus, the individual flavors of the garlic, tahini, and lemon come alive when you make it fresh. The only trick is finding tahini, which I purchase at a local Middle Eastern grocery store.

Ingredients

hummus:

  • 1 can garbanzo beans (drained)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more to garnish
  • little bit of warm water
  • kosher salt
  • optional garnishes: fresh parsley, paprika, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, etc.

pita chips:

  • 5 small loaves of pita bread, or 7.5 ounces
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation

hummus:

Add to food processor garbanzo beans, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, water, and kosher salt. Process all ingredients. Adjust olive oil to taste. Put in serving bowl and sprinkle extra extra olive oil on top if you wish. Optional: Garnish with fresh parsley, paprika, tomato slices, etc.

pita chips:

Preheat oven to 375 °F.  Line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Tear by hand the double-layered pita into single layers of bread. Cut these half circles of pita into bite-sized triangular pieces. Spread out pita pieces onto baking pan sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, kosher salt, and dried oregano. Bake in oven 10 minutes or until toasted light brown.

Ideas

Great with falafel sandwiches, or for a healthy snack or appetizer serve with pita chips, cucumber slices, and carrot sticks. For a similar recipe, try Mary’s Baba Ghanoush and Toasted Pita Chips. If you like tahini, Jersusalam Salad is nice too.

What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to review: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com

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