Ethereally Smooth Hummus

Admit it - these look like alien life form pods, right? 

Loved the taste of the tomatoes on top of this excellent hummus 

My cousin Becky and I have likened the act of stringing green beans to a near religious experience. The smell, the sound, and the feel of those fresh beans as they snap in pieces and then get dumped into the pot to cook down to the gloriousness of summer's best vegetable are enough to make a person feel the world is a good place.

You don't use green beans to make hummus, so why do I bring them up? In following the Smitten Kitchen recipe for tonight's Hubby's-Gone Dinner, I had to take a bunch of chickpeas and laboriously rid them of their shells. Trust me, handling those beans and flicking off the outer coverings is never going to qualify as a religious experience.  Like Deb described, I got into a bit of a rhythm with grabbing the beans and popping off the outer shell but the whole time I was watching that mound of skins grow, I kept hoping the tedious process would be worth it when I ate the final product.  That pile of shed outer coverings looked positively disgusting. It reminded me of living on the desert in Tucson and coming across discarded snake and reptile skins. Or maybe some kind of alien creature trying to hatch on my kitchen table. I'll probably have nightmares about those creepy skins tonight.

Once you're done with the icky shell popping, the rest of this dish is ridiculously easy to make. I'd never really thought about how hummus is made or even what it is made of but now that I see just how quickly I can whip up a batch, I may never go store-bought again.

Ethereally Smooth Hummus

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup cooked, drained chickpeas (from a 15 oz. can) or a little shy of 2/3 cup dried chickpeas (for same yield) MY NOTE: I used the canned but found that the 15 oz size did not yield a full 1 3/4 cup. I got more like a heaping one cup, which was ok since I was halving the recipe.)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (for dried chickpeas only)
1/2 cup tahini paste
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 cup table salt, or more to taste
Approximately 1/4 cup water or reserved chickpea cooking water

Olive oil, paprika, or sumac, pita wedges (brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with za'atar or a combination of sesame seeds and sea salt) and/or carrot sticks (optional) to serve.

Directions:
If using dried chickpeas: There are multiple methods of cooking them, and you can use whichever is your favorite or  Ottolenghi's or Smitten Kitchen's. Ottolenghi's is to put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with at least twice their volume of cold water, leaving them to soak overnight. The next day, drain them, and saute them in a medium saucepan with the baking soda (which many find reduces the gassy effects of fresh beans) for about three minutes. Add 3 1/4 cups water and bring it to a boil. Skim any foam that floats to the surface. They'll need to cook for 20 to 40 minutes, sometimes even longer, depending on freshness, to become tender. When tender, one will break up easily between your thumb and forefinger. The Smitten Kitchen method is similar but she often puts hers in a slow cooker on high with the baking soda for approximately 3 hours, so she doesn't have to monitor them as much.

Drain the chickpeas. Peel them. The easiest way to do this is to take a chickpea between your thumb and the next two fingers, arranging the pointy end towards your palm and "pop!" the naked chickpea out. Discard the skin.

In a food processor, blend the chickpeas until powdery clumps form, a full minute, scraping down the sides. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and blend until pureed.

With the machine running, drizzle in water or reserved chickpea cooking water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you get a very smooth, light and creamy mixture. Smitten Kitchen suggest about 4 Tablespoons for the recipe but, based on individual preferences, you may need slightly less or more.

Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt or lemon if needed. You might hold off on adding more garlic as the garlic tends to "bloom" as it settles in the fridge overnight, becoming much stronger after a rest.

Transfer the hummus to a bowl and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer if you can. To serve drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Serve with pita wedges or carrot sticks.

OR you can adapt another of Deb's recipes, "Hummus Heaped With Tomatoes and Cucumbers". I skipped the cucumbers and forgot to add some red onion as suggested, but the tomatoes with olive oil and lemon made for a great fairly light yet filling dinner.