Delicious Homemade Roasted Garlic Hummus

When it comes to eating healthy, it can be somewhat of a challenge to begin adjusting your habits. It can also be a bit of a bummer to give up most of your favorite sweets and snacks. To help ease you into it, we've decided to help you out with a delicious snack option: homemade hummus. It's so easy to make, and you can eat it with fresh or roasted veggies, or even pita chips. Hummus sounds like a complex dish to make, but we can assure you, it's not. You just need a food processor and you're good to go! Also, if you want to, you can peel the chickpeas for a smoother consistency. This is completely optional if you don't have the patience or simply don't want to. Once you make this yummy dip, you'll want to eat it all the time!

Ingredients

For Roasted Garlic

• 1 large head of garlic
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Fro Hummus

• 2(15 oz) cans chickpeas - about 3 cups total, liquid drained and reserved
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
• 3/4 Tsp. salt, plus additional to taste
• 1/8-1/4 Tsp. cayenne
• 3-5 Tbsp. liquid from canned chickpeas
• Smoked paprika (optional for garnish)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (200 Celsius).
2. Peel outer skin of garlic head, making sure to leave all the cloves intact.
3. Cut 1/2-inch slice off the top of the head of garlic, leaving the cloves exposed. Discard the top.
4. Set the head on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the garlic with the foil and roast for 40 minutes.
5. Check the garlic with a knife to see if it's soft enough - be careful of steam when opening the foil! Poke the garlic with the knife to check. The garlic should be a golden brown and completely softened. If not, re-wrap the foil and put back in the oven, checking every 5 minutes until it's done. When done, unwrap the garlic and set it aside to cool.
6. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze out the cloves into the food processor.
7. Add the drained chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne, plus 3 tablespoons of the reserved chickpea liquid.
8. Puree until smooth, adding additional chickpea liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Keep pureeing for another minute or so, scraping down the sides as needed. Add seasoning and salt to taste.
9. Serve swirled on a plate and enjoy!