Well, I recently broke down and purchased a Vitamix Blender...well a refurbished one. They are certainly expensive but so far it has been well worth it & I can see why "Cook's Illustrated" recommends it & Jamba Juice uses them to make your smoothie! Speaking of smoothies, I recently took a break from making them to make some Hummus...Vitamix style!
I am basically following the recipe from the cookbook that came with the Vitamix Blender except I started with dried Chickpeas. If you are using a food processor, then please refer to this recipe:
http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2010/09/hummus-foxymorons-style.html
Let's get started!
WHAT YOU NEED:
2-15 oz cans of Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans); 1 drained & 1 with liquid;
or
**4 c of Cooked Chickpeas reserving 1-2 c of the liquid** (!!!soak overnight!!!)
1/4 c Raw Sesame Seeds
1-2 T Olive Oil
1/4 c Lemon Juice (from 2-3 Lemons)
1-2 Garlic Cloves (peeled)
1 t Cumin
2-3 t Kosher Salt
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
A Vitamix Blender or a Food Processor
Large Pot if using Dried Chickpeas
WHAT YOU DO:
**If you are using canned Chickpeas, Please skip to step 5**
1. Dissolve 2 T of Kosher Salt in about 2 Quarts of Water in a large pot
2. Rinse the Dried Chickpeas & add to the Salted water. The water needs to cover the Chickpeas by about 2 inches because the Chickpeas will expand. SOAK OVERNIGHT
3. Drain & Rinse the Soaked Beans. Place in Large pot & add water until Chickpeas are covered by 2 inches of water. Cover, bring to Boil, then reduce heat & simmer for 30-45 minutes until the Chickpeas are nice & soft. (IF YOU DID NOT SOAK OVERNIGHT, THEN YOU WILL NEED TO SIMMER FOR ABOUT 60-90 MINUTES)
4. Save 1-2 c of the Liquid & drain the rest.
5. Place all of the ingredients in the listed order into the Vitamix container. Be sure to add 1 c of the reserved liquid if you cooked your own Chickpeas. Secure the lid.
6. Select Variable 1, then turn on the Vitamix & quickly increase the speed to Variable 10, then to HIGH.
7. Blend for 1 minutes using the Tamper to press the ingredients into the Blades.
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| Initially this was TOO DRY |
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| With just a little extra reserved liquid, this is now nice & creamy! |
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| Another view of TOO dry. It's kind of like a Khaki Play-doh which is bad! |
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| This is more like it! |
Well, that is about all there is to it. The Vitamix Blender did a fantastic job. Using Chickpeas from the can makes this such a simple recipe. The hardest part is cleaning the Vitamix Container, but cleaning a food processor was just as big of a pain in the butt!
Until next time,
Your friendly Neighborweb Monkey!
