Lemon Rosemary Hummus

Hummus is such a great dip and it's so easy to make.  It's very light and refreshing and you can serve it as an appetizer or just enjoy it as a snack.  Here's a recipe for lemon rosemary hummus.  To make this dip you will need

1 cup of dried garbanzo beans (or a 16 oz can if you want to take a shortcut)
1 lemon (we're going to juice and zest it)
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (if you want to use dried that's fine I prefer fresh)
2 Tbsp of tahini
olive oil

salt

Place the dried garbanzo beans in a bowl and cover with water.  Let it soak overnight

Drain the garbanzo beans and place in a pot.  Cover with water so that the water is about 2 inches above the beans.  Then place the pot on the stove under high heat and cover, bring to a boil.  Once it's boiling turn down to low and let simmer an hour to an hour and a half.  You want the beans to be soft

When the beans are ready drain them in a colander but you want to reserve a ladle or two of the liquid for when preparing our hummus

Now it's time to throw everything into the food processor!  Pour the beans in first (if you're using canned just drain most of the liquid into the sink but reserve about a half cup)

Then zest your lemon with a microplane.  The zest adds so much flavor!  All of the oils are held in the zest and it makes a world of difference when it comes to flavor.  I highly recommend you don't skip this step.  When zesting be sure to move the lemon around and get all of the yellow.  You don't want to zest the white as this is the pith and it's bitter.

Now it's time to juice the lemon.  I like to roll it back and forth on the counter to get the juices flowing before I cut it in half.  Then just squeeze both halves into the food processor.  Be careful not to get the seeds in

Then add your 2 Tbsp of tahini, clove of garlic, salt and reserved liquid from the garbanzo beans.

Turn the food processor on and drizzle olive oil in while it's pureeing.  Just use your judgement and add until you get the desired consistency, should be about a tbsp or two.  You can always add more of the reserved liquid to lessen the olive oil whatever you prefer.  This should take about 30 seconds to a minute...

Turn the processor off and push down the mixture with a rubber spatula.  Then add finely chopped rosemary.  Sprinkle it around

Turn the processor on again to mix everything up just run it for about 10 seconds or so...
Remove the hummus from the food processor and add it to a bowl.  Cover it up and refrigerate for at least an hour or two to allow the flavors to mingle and the hummus to firm up.  Serve with raw veggies, chips, or pita bread.  This is also a delicious sandwich spread.  Enjoy!