Spicy Hummus

I hadn't made Hummus in years, but got tired of paying $3.49 for a little container in the grocery store. Trader Joe's has a wonderful roasted red pepper hummus, but sadly there are no Trader Joe's in my current location.

So I pulled out my hummus recipe from college and started to experiment. What follows is an spicy version of the rather bland original.

1 can (2 cups) chick peas, drained
2/3 cup tahini paste
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon thai chili garlic paste
1 teaspoon paprika

Note: I have a little 3 cup Hamilton Beach chopper that I make hummus in, but if you're a purist on texture, you'll probably want to use a "real" food processor.

Puree chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, chili paste, paprika & 3 tablespoons of olive oil until desired consistancy. If it needs to be thinned, use some additional lemon juice.

I try to make this a day before I want to eat it, since hummus always does better with some time to settle, but I've also made it to take somewhere right before I went out the door and its still gotten raves. I think its especially good with cucumbers because of the balance between the spicy and cool, but I've never tried it on a vegetable that I didn't like it with.

Shake additional paprika over top & drizzle with olive oil just before serving if you want to be fancy.