I love the freshness that you get from adding herbs to hummus.  I usually add a little bit of parsley and/or dill to my plain hummus.  But in this variation, the dominant flavour comes from one of my favourite herbs – cilantro.  I made this for my birthday party and people really liked it.  (See my sun dried tomato hummus recipe here.)  More recently, I made this for John’s housewarming party and it was, again, a huge hit.  This time, though, I didn’t allow the food processor to incorporate the cilantro leaves as homogeneously, and the hummus had a nicer look to it.

Cilantro Lime Hummus Recipe

Note:  You can use garlic infused oil or roasted garlic for a softer garlic flavour.  Instructions have been provided for both options.

1 (19 ounce / 540 ml) can chickpeas, drained

1 handful of fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed if you are using garlic infused oil

OR 1/2 small head of garlic if you are using roasted garlic

freshly squeezed juice from one large lime

zest of 1 lime

optional: 1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste), mixed well in its container

1/2 tsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1/8 tsp ground cumin

coarse salt

ground black pepper

1 tbsp water

If you are using roasted garlic:  Slice off the top of a small head of garlic.  Drizzle the garlic cloves with olive oil, wrap loosely in aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 450 F oven for 40 minutes.  Allow to cool.

If you are using garlic infused oil:  In a small heavy bottomed pot, heat up the olive oil and smashed garlic cloves gently (between low and medium-low heat) for 15 minutes.  The garlic will be soft and the oil will be infused with garlic flavour.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Remove the skins of the chick peas.  I place the chick peas in a large bowl and rub them between my fingers and hands under cool running water.  Discard the skins as they float to the surface.  Although the tedious task of removing the chick pea skins is not necessary, it’s worth the effort (in my opinion) because it makes for a much smoother consistency.

Place the chick peas in a food processor along with the garlic cloves (oil will be added separately later) and process until ground.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process for a few more seconds.  Then in a separate small bowl, mix together the lime juice and tahini if using.  Add this to the food processor bowl along with the lime zest, cumin, chili powder, a large pinch of salt and a small pinch of black pepper.  Process until well combined.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and with the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady thin stream through the feeding tube.  Process until smooth and well blended.  Add the cilantro and process until well combined.  Then taste and adjust lime juice, cilantro, salt, and chili powder to taste.  Then with the machine running, add 1 tbsp of water through the feeding tube and process until very smooth.  If you prefer a thinner consistency, add more water as necessary.  Keep in the refrigerator.  Allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to serving.  Optional:  Drizzle with some olive oil prior to serving.