I’ve taken most of the week off from blogging, but I couldn’t resist sharing my recent hummus experiment with you!

I love hummus & celery; it’s one of my favorite low-carb treats. (Before I went low-carb, I used to eat hummus & pita often … it’s still one of my favorite splurge snacks.) I could make a meal out of hummus (and have, as a matter of fact). It can be pretty pricey, though, so I have been wanting to find an easy recipe to make my own at home.

Most hummus recipes call for tahini, a sesame-based paste, which I didn’t have on hand. I did, however, have about 2 Tbsp of sesame seeds, so I used what I had. (I found the linked recipe for tahini afterward, so next time, I’ll get more sesame seeds and try to make my own paste.)

First, I sauteed 2 Tbsp minced garlic in about 1 Tbsp olive oil. I added the sesame seeds (beware oil splash from popping seeds!) and set the pan aside when the seeds began to brown and become aromatic.

I love red pepper hummus from the deli section at the grocery store, and I had some frozen red & orange bell pepper pieces leftover from our pepper-carving fest a while back, so I decided to put about half a pepper worth into the mini food processor and blended until the peppers were finely chopped.

I drained 2 cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and put them in the large food processor to chop. I added the peppers and garlic/sesame seed mixture, additional olive oil (3-4 Tbsp) for a smooth texture, about 1/4 c lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

I solicited taste-testers, and everyone gave it a thumbs-up! 🙂