Monday, July 18, 2011

Grams Made Black Olive Hummus

Grams has been taking care of Her Highness since Thursday while her family went camping. She has been the best baby! She wakes up happy and smiling every morning. She laughs and plays most of the day. She rarely cries. The only exception to that no crying has been bath-time. I have only bathed her every other day. I tried the bathtub, the kitchen sink, and the bathroom sink. She screamed every time! I'm talking about blood-curdling, murderous-sounding screams.

My next-door neighbor brought her the cute little dress that she's wearing in this picture. Sorry about the quality of the photo. I took it with my cell phone and no flash. I can get a better picture quality if I use the flash, but when it flashes, she bugs her eyes out and it looks pretty funny.

Meantime, Grandad has been dieting. He was not happy with his weight when they weighed him at the doctor's office last week so he's put himself on South Beach Diet. When he came home tonight he brought the ingredients for hummus which will be his afternoon snack, along with celery.  It's super simple to make and delicious, so I thought I would share the recipe with you. Most hummus is made with tahini (sesame paste) which is challenging to find and a little bit pricey. This one uses a little extra olive oil in place of the tahini. My recipes uses twice the amount of chickpeas called for in most recipes. I actually like it better without the tahini.


Black Olive Hummus

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives packed in Cabernet
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil

Drain olives and reserve Cabernet.

Place all ingredients except oil and Cabernet in food processor and pulse until a paste forms.

Turn food processor on and drizzle in olive slowly to achieve desired texture. Add a couple of teaspoons of the reserved Cabernet if it needs further thinning.

Store in refrigerator.

NOTE: If you can't find Kalamata olives packed in Cabernet, just use any Kalamata olives and drizzle in some water instead of Cabernet if you need to thin the hummus.

This is really good served with pita chips, but for a lower carbohydrate treat, serve with celery or carrots.