Especially, in small-ish oil derrick towns like what I grew up in.

I stopped eating meat when I was a pre-teen so my mother didn’t quite know what to do with me.

In our town, there was one little Mediterranean deli at the back of a tiny grocery store that had “exotic delicacies” like hummus and falafel.

Neither my brother nor my father were interested in eating any of that, so it was a place my mom would take me. It became a special thing that just she and I did sometimes and I have really fond memories of that small, dirty store.

And the hummus.

Hummus has gone mainstream since then and many of you reading this email probably have some in your fridge right now.

I eat hummus A LOT. I like to use it as a spread on my sandwiches instead of mayonnaise or mustard. In fact, last night, I roasted a bunch of vegetables and put them in a wrap with homemade hummus, beets and spicy sauce and that was dinner.

I got the beet idea from that Mediterranean deli. They always put beets in their wraps and I do it to this day!

Also, I typically have a bowl of homemade hummus in my fridge and put a big plop of it on my salads, eat it as a snack, and use it as a side dish with other entrees.

When I make mine, I don’t use a recipe. The ingredients are: chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, olive oil and salt.

I like to cook my own chickpeas from dried beans but I also always have a few cans in the pantry in case I need them.

My favorite hummus is warm and freshly made.

How I make hummus is I take my hot, freshly cooked chickpeas and strain them, saving some of the water. I put them in my food processor with tahini, lemon juice, chopped garlic, salt, a little olive oil and some of the cooking water.

Then, I process for a long time. I start the food processor and let it run for 3-5 minutes while I go do something else. I like my hummus very creamy.

Then it’s just taste, add and blend. I use cooking water and less oil than some people (you can also use the water from the can if you go the canned chickpea route).

I add more lemon, more salt, more garlic, more oil or water… whatever I need. Then I keep processing and adding until the flavor is just how I like it.

I use way more tahini than most recipes call for… I like a lot of tahini.

I know you want an actual recipe so here’s one to start with. However, I encourage you to experiment!