Despite its Greek origins, hummus earned a reputation in the United States a few decades back as hippie food. But its ubiquity in the refrigerator section of the average supermarket these days shows that it has endeared itself to many more groups of people, and that's a great thing. The store-bought stuff can be fine, but it can't touch the homemade hummus recipe you can make in your food processor with a few cloves of garlic, a few cans of chickpeas, drops of olive oil, and of course; a few flicks of the wrist. Plus, hummus is one of those great, basic recipes you can swap a lot of great options in the place of chickpeas and make a whole new flavor of hummus. For a few ideas on how to adapt this recipe, see our Eat This Tip, below!

Nutrition: 210 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated), 460 mg sodium

Serves 6

You'll Need

3 whole-wheat pitas, cut into wedges
1 can (14–16 oz) garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), drained 2 Tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 tsp cumin
1⁄2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

How to Make It

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the pita wedges on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until hot and lightly crisped.
Combine the beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and salt in a food processor and puree.
With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the hummus has a thick, creamy consistency. If the mixture is still too thick, add a bit of water to thin it out.
Serve with the toasted pita wedges. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Eat This Tip

Hummus is dying to be embellished. The best part about making it from scratch at home (besides the money you'll save) is that you can punch it up however you like. Try these additions: