Hummus

Last week my best friend and I had a fabulous Valentine's Day party with some of our favorite people. We had a nice spread of food with some of my favorite things to eat. I love serving guests build-able food that can easily cater to different tastes. Hummus is one of my favorite dips. It's full of flavor and nutritious. It wasn't part of the initial menu, but I decided to add it on a whim. Hummus goes well with Taziki. I keep my Taziki simple.

Foolproof Hummus

2 TB sesame seeds

2 TB creamy peanut butter

2 TB olive oil

2 TB liquid aminos (Bragg's)

2 TB lemon or lime juice

1 TB minced fresh garlic

1 TB paprika

4 cups of cooked garbanzo beans drained (1 quart or 2 14 oz cans)

Put sesame seeds in blender and blend until fine meal. Add everything else and blend until smooth. You will need to stop and push the beans from the top down into the blender a couple of times.

Note: It is a bit easier to blend everything in a food processor. The processor will not make a very good seed meal though and I don't like to dirty extra dishes. A coffee grinder will make a great seed meal. This is a large recipe and can easily be cut in half.

Taziki

6 oz plain yogurt

1/2 head of FRESH garlic minced

1/3 cucumber peeled, seeded and minced

Mix everything together then put in tea towel and allow to drain over a bowl for at least 2 hours in the fridge. I like to put mine in an old sour cream container with the lid on to secure the towel from dropping down to low.

Layered Greek Bean Dip

1/2 hummus recipe from above

1 batch of Taziki

3-4 oz crumbled feta cheese

2 small diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives

Layer ingredients hummus first in an 8x8 in pan. Best served at room temperature, though delicious cold too. Serve with crackers or cucumber slices.