There was a period of time about a year ago where we always had some homemade hummus in the fridge. Part of the reason I haven't made it in a while is that a bag of dried chick peas makes so much hummus that my food processor almost didn't hold the entire batch. The other reason was that the whole soaking and rinsing and boiling routine of the chick peas got a little tiring sometimes.

Last night I had two brilliant and related ideas. First, I could use a can of already cooked chick peas and it would probably taste just as good, but wouldn't make as much, and would take much less time to prepare. In the hot weather we are having now I wouldn't have to heat the house up with the stove either.

I was so excited to make my award winning hummus again that I couldn't wait until tonight after work. I made a batch this morning right after breakfast. It took a total of five minutes. How great is that? Last weekend we were in the mood for some hummus so we picked up a container at Trader Joes. I think it was about three dollars, maybe even a few cents more. It was very small and it was just OK. I couldn't taste the tahini or olive oil. Mostly lemon juice. The batch I made this morning will have all day to mature and be ready for tonight's dinner. I am going to grill hotdogs on the grill and use the hummus as a condiment. We have grapes and cantaloupe to go along with that. Maybe we will stop by the store to get some vegetables or pita bread to dip with while we watch a movie tonight.

It turned out delicious. I would give you a recipe but I do it all by sight. The best I can do is:

A can of chick peas
1/2 cup to 2/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons Red Hot sauce
water as needed for consistency. I think I added between 1/2 to 1 cup this morning. If you remember to save the juice from the can you can use this and add a little more flavor to your hummus.

The other idea (realization) I had last night was that I don't have to prepare the entire bag of dried chick peas when I go that route. (I am a bright one, huh?) I think my reasoning was as long as I am going through the effort anyway I might as well do the whole bag.

I wonder if I could prepare the whole bag but then freeze half of the prepared chick peas for the following weekend's hummus batch?

We got a 32-ounce bottle of tahini for about five dollars. That is probably enough to keep us in hummus for the rest of the year.