Sundried Tomato and Garlic Hummus

I remember sitting in a small restaurant in Concord, New Hampshire a while back, blythly knoshing on bread sticks and hummus and thinking that it was the perfect snack. I was having the hummus as a starter with a glass of wine, waiting for my lunch entree to arrive at the table. Thinking back now, I think I'd have been able to make another glass of wine and a side salad a meal with a few more bread sticks and a slightly larger bowl of that gorgeous snack my entire lunch! I got thinking about that hummus yesterday, as I was making the breadsticks for our soupy supper.

So, today, I decided to make my own jazzier version of that hummus recipe and have it for lunch ... voila!



This version is a hot, smoky, spicy orange! It is such an easy recipe that I'm almost embarrassed to share it, but what the hey! Here is it ... enjoy! If you don't want the garlic flavour to be 'hot and with a bite', saute it in a bit of olive oil before putting into the chickpeas. You can also lighten up the flavour a bit with a squeeze of lemon juice, but I liked it just fine without. Just sayin' ...

Sundried Tomato and Garlic Hummus – Fast and Easy

Ingredients:

a 15 oz. can garbanzo beans/chick peas, drained and rinsed

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped

¼ c. warm water

2 tbsp. olive oil

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

a pinch of smoked paprika

1. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and puree for about five minutes, stirring down the edges of the bowl on occasion to make sure things get nice and smooth.
2. Turn the smooth hummus into a pretty bowl and drizzle the top with a bit of olive oil, and lemon juice if you like. Pop some greenery in to make things look pretty and chill for a while.
3. Serve with bread sticks, pita chips or savory crackers.