The other day on twitter I was raving about hummus.  I’ve always liked it…just not loved it.  I used to buy it at Trader Joes and the roasted red pepper flavor was my favorite.  Anyway, I decided to try making it at home.  Usually when I try making something that I normally buy pre-made, the result is WOAH…WHY HAVEN’T I DONE THIS BEFORE!?!  And hummus was no exception.  I LOVE it.

So, much so that I decided to create a dinner around it. 🙂

But, I’ll start with the hummus.  Take 2 cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and puree them in your food processor with 1/2 cup of water.

Then add 4 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup tahini (sold at Trader Joes), the juice from 2 lemons, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 2 T. olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  I added toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

So, we all went crazy dipping pita bread and vegetables.  When we ran out of that, we resorted to just dipping tortilla chips.  It’s that good.  Then I decided we’d incorporate it into a dinner.  It’s my version of a middle Eastern taco, inspired by a dish my fried Bryan once made.

Half a red and yellow bell pepper and seed them.  Lay them flat on a baking sheet and broil until their skin gets dark.  Then put them in a ziploc bag for a few minutes and peel the skin off.  Then chop them up.  The flavor is mellow and smokey and buttery.  Layer them over your hummus on a piece of pita or middle eastern flat bread.  Top with feta cheese and some grilled chicken.  Add pine nuts if you like a little crunch.  Super easy and SO good!