Thursday, November 5, 2009

I Got the Hummus

It sometimes surprises me what foods I miss from the US. The everyday comforts from home we can get here, so it's the little things -- Triscuits, Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, dill pickles -- that I find myself longing for.

The latest: hummus.

When I was in Chicago someone told me an easy recipe and the search was on for the ingredients, or substitute ingredients since some of you may recall, Mexico doesn't have lemons. (At least not where I can find them.)

My ingredient list:

2 cans garbanzo beans*
5 cloves of garlic**
1/2 cup lime juice
1 heaping teaspoon of peanut butter***
1/4 cup oil
salt to taste


* These were HARD to find. They are not in the special bean aisle (there's an entire aisle for beans) but next to the olives. Or what I call "the aisle for food only tourists eat."

** This was too much. I'll go for 3-4 next time.

*** Because we don't have tahini.

It turned out MUCH better than I expected, especially for my first attempt, and I'm excited to make it again (once we finish the garlic-fest going on in the refrigerator).

All this talk of hummus always makes me think of a famous Spanish song:



Which then makes me think of one of my favorite Marc Anthony songs, one that EVERYONE is the club always wanted to dance to (his hair is PRETTY in this):



So what do you like to eat with hummus?

(Once again -- major props to anyone who can name the Friends episode that I stole the title of this post from.)

24 comments:

weeghosties said...

MMmmmmm, hummus. I love the stuff. I make my own as well but usually skip the tahini because I never remember to buy it, I'll try the peanut butter!

I make my own low-carb chips to go with it (low-carb tortilla cut into triangles and baked) or make lettuce boats for the girls with it inside.

*wanders off in search of garbanzos for hummus lunch*

Allen said...

Okay, I got to admit I cheated... So I won't tell hat episode it was.

But the best things about the google search was "What Am I Doing In Mexico?" was the first result. Fans of Friends all over the world are hitting your site right now. Some are wondering why a Mexican person is speaking in English. Others are trying to figure out How friends have anything to do with Mexico. Most of the men are just staring down Monday...

Adam said...

Hummus sucks.

Srsly, bleh!

Adam

PS. *poke* *poke*

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Stacey, I should do that with the chips. We don't have low-carb, but it's still cheaper that way and there's no grease.

Allen, that's funny about google!

Adam, you sir, are demented. Hummus-hater.

Adam said...

Mel - PFFFFFFFT!!!



Adam

Melanie Hooyenga said...

*spreads hummus on eggs*

What?

Adam said...

*Tries not to vomit on Mel's nice clean blog.*


;-)

Adam

JLC said...

You already know that I am a bit of a health freak. We buy hummas all the time. (Tried to make it, just isn't the same.) There is a local co. around here that makes awesome hummus. Red Pepper Hummus, Olive Hummus, Chipotle Hummus etc... I usually eat mine with carrot sticks or organic multi-grain crackers. My favorite crackers to eat hummus with are the 'fire roasted vegetable' crackers made by TLC. Mmm...

Melanie Hooyenga said...

*smacks Adam*

JLC, I'm going to try to make roasted red pepper hummus in the near future. That's the kind I always bought in the US. Chipolte would be good too!

Mmm... now I'm craving crackers.

Nadine said...

Regarding the Friends comment - I feel like Phoebe says it, no? But can't remember the episode. Is it when watching the naked guy across the street?

So glad you got your hummus!! That recipe sounded really good and easy!! I love to dip pita triangles or pita chips into hummus. Yum...

We also like to put chicken in a tortilla and then hummus on top and roll it up and eat it. We do like hummus in this house! Except we always buy it and now I'm more interested in making it. I'll have to give it a try!

Anonymous said...

I love hummus with chips. That stuff is great.

I can totally relate to missing foods. I find myself missing foods that I never even liked that much!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Nadine, yes it's Phoebe. And I'll give you a hint -- she's wearing a yellow dress. It's also the same episode with the line "you were gonna drink the fat!"

I forgot about putting hummus on chicken -- yum!

Gypsy, isn't that strange how that happens?

Nadine said...

Ooh ooh ooh, it's the Thanksgiving one!!!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Nooooo... it's also the one where Joey does the opposite of hiding his underwear.

Nadine said...

:( I remember the drinking the fat was either for a bet, or to make someone not upset anymore.

Le sigh.. I miss having TV now. No reruns.

colbymarshall said...

I actually ate some dill pickle PRINGLES yesterday. Um, amazingness in a can.

JLC said...

Oh! I just thought about something. I sort of know what you are going through. Where I used to live, there were plenty of awesome Chinese food restaurants. But where I live now... BLEH! (If there wasn't any good Mexican food, I'd move.)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Nadine, you're on the right track! Drinking the fat was Joey's solution for Ross to prove he loves Rachel.

Colby, I've heard of those. They sound AWESOME!!

JLC, so you know what I'm talking about.

Robin said...

Wow! This is a weird coincidence! Who would have thought there'd be 2 simultaneous hummus related blogs? It's karma.

I can't believe it tasted OK with peanut butter! That's just wild! I like veggies dipped in hummus when I'm in dieting mode. Otherwise, I like dipping nice, fresh, warm pita bread triangles into it.

Janna Leadbetter said...

First, OMG! Look at Marc Anthony!

Second, what the heck is tahini?

And third, I'm definitely going to buy hummus next time I'm at the store. I've eyed it several times (especially the roasted red pepper and another variety or two like JLC mentioned), but haven't taken the step. Gonna!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Robin, it's even weirder now (I was half asleep when I read your post earlier). Our minds are on the same wavelength. I didn't add a lot of peanut butter because I didn't want it to overwhelm, and it didn't.

Janna, I know! Isn't that hysterical. Tahini is the substance that gives hummus its nutty flavor (or so I hear). PLEASE try it!! It's yummy.

erica m. chapman said...

I love Hummus! We get a big container at Sam's club and eat it all the time. I tried for the first time at a pizza restaurant in Charlotte NC, when we lived there, and fell in love with it!

I'm so glad it turned out better than you thought. The hubs tried to make it once and-- well... it was kind of a gross mess :)

Oh the Friends episode- wasn't it the one where Ross tells Rachel that she has to go to his museum event and Phoebe spills (hummus) on her dress and puts that huge corsage looking thing over it. And Rachel begins to do her correspondence, cause she was mad at Ross for yelling at her about taking too long to change for the event. So he tells her he will drink the fat, to prove that he is sorry. Everything just kept going wrong...

I believe that is the one, right? I can't think of the actual line though...

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Erica, yes! I think you've proven you know the episode. The hummus came into play when the "mean boys" flung hummus and it landed on Phoebe's yellow dress. When Rachel saw the stain she asked what happened and Phoebe said "Hummus. I got the hummus."

easy recipes said...

I never try adding peanut butter. do you fill the peanut at the end?