Hummus

Gluten free - grain free - dairy free - sugar free - nut free - egg free
  There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of hummus recipes on the internet, but I wanted to post one too, because it's such a great staple food item for those of us that avoid wheat and dairy. There are very few dips that are dairy-free. Hummus is so yummy, full of fibre, and such a healthy snack when paired with vegetable sticks or spread over toast. If I don't have any left-overs for lunch and need something quick and easy, I spread hummus on toast and top it with fresh tomato or cucumber, a little salt and pepper and down it goes! One of my sons also loves it on his wheat-free bread sandwiches for school lunch.
    I ALWAYS have hummus in the fridge! I usually make a double batch of this recipe (yes, four cans of chick peas) and freeze it in small containers, so I'm not always making it! You don't want to freeze it in large containers, as it's preservative free - unlike the supermarket version - and will go off more quickly (although mine lasts about a week just fine). The other advantage that home made hummus has over supermarket versions is that you can make it with olive oil rather than the more harmful, and often genetically modified, canola oil that is often used.
    Hummus is also a great side to a lamb dish, or inside salad wraps instead of meat. So versatile, so good...it just had to be part of my blog recipe collection! I think I originally based my recipe on a Jamie Oliver recipe, and have tweaked it a little over time.

Ingredients

• 2x 400g cans chickpeas, drained well (I prefer organic canned chickpeas)
• 1 small red dried chilli (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smokey paprika (use sweet if you don't have smokey)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic, peeled (or 2 teaspoons minced garlic, but fresh is better)
  
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste- found in health food isle of supermarket)
• About 1/2 cup olive oil (preferably good quality extra virgin)
  
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 medium sized lemons)
  
  

Method

• Put the garlic clove and chilli in a food processor and pulse till finely chopped. Add all other ingredients, and blend until smooth.

• If you prefer a runnier consistency, slowly add more olive oil until desired consistency is achieved (this is important if you're going to freeze some for later- it should be runnier to start with or it comes out of the freezer very dry).
  

• Taste for salt and pepper and add more as desired.

Notes:

• some people really love the tahini taste in hummus. This version is quite light on the tahini, as I find kids don't like it very strong. Add more if you love the tahini flavour.
• If you want a lower fat version, reserve some of the liquid from the can and replace some of the oil content with the can liquid.