I say, "Hummus," you say, "Hummos"

When Dona and I married, she raved about a Middle Eastern restaurant in Portland, Oregon. One of the things she talked about was hummus. The first time I tried it, I just bought a box at the health food store that you could add water to. That didn't go over very well. Not because we are against store-bought things, but because I put too much lemon juice in it and it was too sour.

At one point in our life, we also were poor enough that we couldn't afford to buy boxed food at all. I have enough time and some cooking expertise, so I started making hummus from scratch. I don't claim to have Middle-Eastern-quality hummus, but I think it is pretty good. We've Americanized how we eat it in a postmodern kind of way.

Hummus

• One can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or one cup dry beans cooked to tenderness--hold back some of the liquid from the beans, you might need it.
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seeds) or peanut butter in a pinch
• 1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 tablespoon garlic grains)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Put all of these ingredients in a good blender, or even an average blender and, starting at a low speed, start blending. Increase the speed and add some of the bean liquid until the hummus is smooth. Depending on your preference, you could add a bit more lemon juice or oil, I suppose.

We eat this with chicken breasts cut into strips and fried with onions and bell peppers cut into strips, and corn tortillas.

I know, I know, tortillas are totally NOT Middle Eastern. Samantha can't have corn tortillas, so she eats them with the crepes I made for Valentine's Day. Crepes are at least French, and France is a little closer to the Middle East, but it's not there, either. I have made pita bread in the past, but since Dona would be the only person who might be able to eat the pita bread, we just use tortillas. Like I said, it's postmodern. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.