Chipotle Hummus

I believe one of the cruelest tricks the Universe can play on someone is to make that person sick, then make that person's husband sick, and then to stick those two people in an apartment with a teething 9 month old baby boy who just learned how to crawl. I'm not complaining, but these last few days have been a bit challenging.

It all started innocently enough - we just wanted a vacation. So we packed up the wee one and his three truckloads-worth of essentials and whisked ourselves away to a rented cottage at our favorite bed & breakfast in Joshua Tree. And it was great. We lounged. We snoozed. We put on mini swim trunks and amazed ourselves with splashing (some of us did, anyway). Then all of that relaxation was forgotten as we sat in traffic on our way back to reality and wallowed in our newly acquired colds. Sigh.

Needless to say, most of the "cooking" that's been done lately has involved a can opener and some hastily purchased cans of chicken soup. However, before leaving on our trip, I made sure to stock up on the ingredients for my friend Jennica's chipotle hummus, so, in between napping and chasing after the baby, I was able to make up a batch, which made me happy, because this stuff is delicious and because, in my opinion, you can never have enough hummus around - especially when you eat it by the spoonful.

Chipotle Hummus
from Paulo Avery Wellman


This recipe can yield a pretty spicy hummus, but if you don't do spicy it's possible to dial down the kick by adding some water and lemon juice, which is what I did merely because I couldn't fathom adding as much olive oil to the recipe as it would take to reach the consistency I was going for.

Ingredients:
2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 cloves garlic
2 chipotle peppers from a can of peppers in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon of tahini paste
1-1/2 tablespoons of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil (approximately 1/2 cup)*

In a food processor or blender add garlic and pulse until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients through parsley and blend. While blending, slowly pour in olive oil stopping periodically to scrape down the sides and check the hummus consistency. Continue adding oil until hummus reaches a consistency of your liking. Add salt as needed. Garnish with chopped parsley and paprika.

*In addition to the oil, I added 1/2 cup of water and the juice from half a lemon.