Hummus and Pita Chips

Hummus- garnished with paprika

Pita Chips- rosemary or chili powder variations

As promised, here are some more recipes from Daniele's delicious Mediterrenean night. Daniele loves hummus and has been experimenting with different flavours. I have tried a few variations as well including spicy, red pepper, pine nuts, and the latest that she introduced me to Garam Massala. It is such a healthy, flavourful protein filled snack. We thought it might be fun to try and make our own. My friend (and former roomie) Keldi used to make her own hummus and it was tasty and seemed easy easy enough. I've also had delicious homemade hummus courtesey of my Lebanese friend Tania and her family. I still remember when she brought a huge tupperware filled to a cottage for us to feast on. yumm

As a start, we decided to try regular hummus, although next time I would experiment with adding some different flavours to it. We modified a simple hummus recipe from mideastfood website

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

- Rinse and drain chickpeas

- Put ingredients together in food processor or blender (be careful if you are using a a blender as you may need to add extra liquid to ensure the blender doesn't burn out)  

- Serve in a bowl and garnish with paprika

The pita chips were really simple. Brush with olive oil and put herbs of your chocie. We made some with fresh rosemary and others with chilli powder. Bake for 5-10 minutes at 400F.

Here are a few photos

Daniele- Preparing chickpeas

A view of the table

Daniele's salad with chicken - it was delicious.
She claims to have 'winged it' but if she
 provides me with a recipe
 I will post it