Whole Foods: Falling in Love with Hummus by Bloom Guest Kami

Today's guest, Kami, is passionate about excellent nutrition and feeding her family a whole foods diet. She writes thoughtful and informative posts about these topics at her blog, Finding My Niche. We're happy to have her at Bloom to teach us a thing or two about hummus (yum!)

Hummus is one of my favorite easy, healthy snacks (or small meals even!). It's a simple puree of garbanzo beans and spices. The garbanzo beans provide an excellent source of fiber which digests slowly and keeps blood sugar from rising too rapidly. Pair them with whole grains or rice, and you've got yourself a complete protein. Garbanzo beans also contains a trace mineral called molybdenum, which helps the body detoxify sulfites. They also contain iron and manganese which are essential for healthy blood and high energy. Olive oil provides a good fat, which will help keep you full. Fresh, raw garlic provides immune boosting properties to keep your body healthy and strong. Basically, this is a wonderful dish that provides excellent nutrition and involves very little work and delivers a lot of taste!

This is the perfect dip to bring to parties along with a platter of raw veggies. But don't just save this for parties! Use it as an every day staple in your house. When kids are hungry (especially before dinner), pull out the hummus, veggies, and whole grain crackers and you've got a simple, quick meal that will leave them satisfied along with giving them excellent nutrition. My almost-three year old, who has never touched raw vegetables, now eats broccoli ("little green trees"), cauliflower ("little white trees") and carrots quite happily if he can dip them into hummus - take away the hummus and there's no way he'd eat them! Providing simple, healthy snacks like this over time will help your family gain an appreciation for the taste of delicious, whole foods.

Hummus

2 cups garbanzo beans

just under 1/3 cup tahini

4-6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (that's about 1 1/2 lemons)

1 teaspoon salt

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

dash of paprika

Combine all ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth and creamy. Serve alongside fresh vegetables, whole grain crackers or pita bread, as a topping for falafel, or as a sandwich spread. The possibilities are endless!