Friday Favorites- Hummus

One of my favorite appetizers/ snack is hummus.  I just love chick peas/garbanzo beans... it's got such a buttery nutty taste. I love that they're good for you too! Garbanzo beans like other legumes are a good source of soluble fiber and can help lower your cholesterol. Eating high fiber foods, can also help prevent heart disease. So why not eat them?

Interesting facts about Garbanzo Beans:

• Name comes from Latin Cicer arietinum, meaning "small ram,"because of it's similarities to a ram's head.
• Originated from the Middle East and was first cultivated in 3000 BC!!
• The first record of garbanzos being consumed dates back about seven thousand years. 
• Their cultivation began in the Mediterranean basin and subsequently spread to India and Ethiopia. 

Since we'll be out at Gold Cup this Saturday (which I blogged about here) and picnicking is a must, I'm making hummus to bring along and eat with celery, baby carrots, and pita chips.  We'll have a ton of other food and beverages too like mimoas, mojitos, mint juleps, subs, slaw, chips, fruit, cookies.  Tommy and I usually always have hummus in our fridge at home.  In the past, we would always just buy it, but it's so easy to make that I've started making it at home.  We have an AeroGarden at home, so we have an abundance of various herbs. They grow like crazy, if we don't use the herbs, they go to waste! So, I started to add them to our hummus, and it's delicious!
I'm going to share the recipe I made the other night.

Vy's Herbed Hummus
Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/3 cup tahini (ground sesame paste)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• fresh herbs (i used basil, lemon basil, mint, thyme)
• black olives
• paprika

 1. Place all ingredients: Garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic, black olives, and various herbs in a food processor and blend until smooth. To make it smoother, I add about a tablespoon of olive oil and blend.
2. Just before serving sprinkle some paprika over the top and drizzle with some olive oil. Chopped fresh parsley can be added as well.
3. Enjoy with fresh veggies or pita chips!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!! Gold Cup, packing, writing papers for school, and getting out Save the Date cards for our wedding are all on my agenda this weekend.Whew, already tired thinking about it all!!
No new updates on Preston Tarleton who was involved in the car accident on 4/26. He is still in ICU in critical condition.  My GF's brother who recently found a tumor behind his eye has now been moved to John's Hopkins. And of course the devastating oil spill situation in the Gulf... Prayers needed all around!
Check out my fav bloggers, Bumpkin on a Swing and Shopaholic In AL who are directly affected by this oil spill for updates.  If not for the updates, check them out anyways, they are AWESOME!!!
XOXO- Vy