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Green Chile Hummus

A couple of days ago, I bought a couple of bags of lentils and a lemon at our local supermarket. The cashier asked me if I use lemon in my lentils, and actually, I sometimes do, but I told her that the lemon was for my hummus. She asked me what that was, as she had never heard of such a thing. And since the mission of this blog is to introduce local folks to foods unfamiliar to them, I am going to talk about hummus, and share the best hummus recipe ever.

Hummus is a delicious Middle Eastern appetizer, a healthy and immensely flavorful dip that will make you ashamed that you ever served the ranch dressing or onion soup mix sour cream dips to people you actually like. Hummus is a puree of garbanzo beans, tahini (sesame seed paste)garlic and lemon juice. Healthy and pure heaven in your mouth.

But being me, I was recently making hummus for a party and I asked myself, "How could I make this even better, and maybe put a New Mexico spin on it?" I did so by adding locally grown, roasted green chiles. And the combimation of flavors is perfect.

So here's how it goes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
three or four large roasted green New Mexico chiles (about a half cup)
3 large peeled garlic cloves
3 TBS tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin
juice of one lemon

Put it in a blender and puree it. If it is too thick to puree, which may happen, slowly add just enough water to free the blades. No more than a half cup of water should be needed, but if you don't need it, don't add it. Blend until it is a smooth paste. Taste, and adjust salt and seasonings. Put it in a bowl, garnish with a sprinkle of powdered red chile or paprika and if you like, some kalamata olives, and let it set in the fridge for an hour or two for the flavors to marry.

That's it. Did you think this would be difficult?

Oh, and about the lemon in the lentils. When I lived in Dearborn, MI, there were fabulous Middle Eastern restaurants there. One of them used to make this incredible lentil soup, and we talked with the chef-owner about how she made it. She took the lamb bones left over from making kibbee, used them as the base for a stock, added lentils, simmered until they were soft, seasoned with ground coriander and cumin, and then pureed the soup until smooth. Served with a wedge of fresh lemon to squeeze into it, this soup is absolutely delectable. Maybe I'll post an actual recipe for it another day.

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