Fire-Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic & Lemon Hoummous

Hoummous is a quick, easy, healthy and inexpensive snack, spread or dip. Though it's pretty easy to find in any well-stocked market, it's one of those things that I have almost always found tastes better when freshly-made and customized with your favorite ingredients. Just get out your blender or food processor and start creating, as hoummous requires little planning and only one "special" ingredient that you may not find everywhere: tahini*, or sesame paste.

Though Middle Eastern hoummous is traditionally made with the bases of chickpeas and tahini, Mediterranean hoummous often contains, in addition to those ingredients, olive oil and lemon juice. Though tahini gives hoummous sufficient creaminess, I find that the addition of olive oil adds an element of richness and that the acidity of lemon juice balances nicely against the chickpea base, which can, if not properly combined with other ingredients, taste mealy. Rest assured that this will not be a concern if you follow this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 14-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzos), rinsed and drained.

1/2-cup tahini

1 fire-roasted red pepper

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Handful cilantro

Olive oil, to taste. Here, I use a couple of tablespoons.

Salt, a few pinches

Cumin, a few pinches

Procedure:

(1) If you have a gas stove, set the burner to medium and place the red pepper directly over the flame. Turn every minute or two with a pair of tongs to char the skin on all sides. Once charred, rub off the charred skin with a paper towel and slice the pepper. If you don't have a gas stove, you can use the broiler to achieve the charring effect, or, if you wish to skip this step entirely, just substitute half of a small can of roasted red peppers.

(2) Rinse and drain chickpeas.

(3) Place chickpeas, tahini, roasted red pepper, garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, olive oil, salt and cumin in blender or food processor and blend/process until desired consistency is achieved.

(4) Garnish with paprika, cumin, lemon zest or whole chickpeas and serve alongside pita bread for an instant snack.

*Tahini can be found in all Middle Eastern markets and also in most Greek, Indian and Italian markets. Many supermarkets carry it, as well.