Birthdays and Hummus

Those two things just go hand in hand, don't they?  Where have I been lately, you may be asking?  Just letting the little things all overwhelm me.  Back to school stressed me unnecessarily, I'm trying to diet, and have been a little down in the dumps.  Coincidence, I think not!  But it does bring me to the hummus.

I'm a brand new Mark Bittman convert.  I took some of my hard-earned FoodBuzz money and purchased his book "Food Matters" and the cookbook that goes along with it.  I guess Mark's story is he was getting older and fatter, bad stuff was happening to his health, and his doctor told him he needed to become a vegan.  Which sort of clashed with his line of work, being a food writer and all.  But he decided to try a plan where he is a "vegan until 6" everyday...eating no animal products, just plants, plants, plants.  Then after 6 eat a normal dinner without gluttonizing, and it worked for him.  

So I thought to myself, if he can do it, maybe I can do it.  I like plants.  So I spent this past Sunday prepping veggies, and making beans and oatmeal and brown rice in mass quantities so I would have easy access to things I can eat and so far so good.  I've taken a few pounds off, and feel like it's something I can live with.  Why am I telling you all this?  Beats the snot out of me; here's Bittman's recipe for hummus.

2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, liquid reserved

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste), optional, with some of its oil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling

2 cloves garlic, peeled, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon ground cumin or paprika, or to taste, plus a sprinkling for garnish

Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed

Put it all together in the food processor and blend it together, adding more liquid from the chickpeas if needed.  

So mine came out a little dry, guess I should have added more liquid.  And it made way more than I needed since I'm the only one who eats it.  Wonder if it freezes well.

And as for birthdays, my little 5th grade flute-playing chickadee turned 11 today.  She's growing up so fast!  

This was the first year she requested a homemade birthday cake, and she wanted the same one I made for her dad back in June, without the raspberry sauce.  So obviously that required extra frosting on top!  

Just as delicious as I remembered.  And there's no chickpeas in it!