Hummus

It's ridiculously easy if you have a food processor.

HUMMUS
2 cloves garlic
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, plus ½ cup bean liquid
¼ cup tahini
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste

Peel garlic and whirl it in the food processor until it's in tiny pieces. Open garbanzo beans and drain all but ½ cup of the liquid, reserving liquid for later use. Whirl garbanzos with garlic. Add tahini, reserved garbanzo liquid, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then process while adding a thin stream of olive oil to the mix. It's done when it reaches a nice smooth dipping consistency. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

Garlicky good! Tasty as a dip for raw veggies, spread on lavash as part of a pinwheel sandwich, or in a tabbouleh-filled pita.

Contributor: Soozcat

Desi Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, are tasty and very good for you -- and if you buy them dried and cook them at home, they are also WAY cheaper than the canned kind. (Do it the easy way and cook them in a slow cooker; then you can freeze them and use 'em whenever the urge takes you.) Anyway, having recently visited my friendly neighborhood Indian grocery store, I had a whole lotta cooked desi chickpeas (the dark brown kind) and a family to feed, so I came up with this:

DESI CHICKPEA SALAD
1½ cups cooked desi chickpeas
1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
about 1 cup red onion, minced
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime or lemon
chat masala powder to taste
salt to taste

In a bowl, mix together chickpeas, jalapeño, onion and tomatoes. Add lime juice and chat masala and toss well. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 4 generous servings or 6 side-dish servings.

NOTE TO SPICY 'FRAIDY CATS: Don't be scared of the jalapeño! If you take the seeds and pith out, all that's left is flavor without excessive heat. Just be careful not to wipe your eyes after mincing it up. Learn from my fail.

Contributor: Soozcat

Cowboy Caviar

This stuff is too solid and chunky to be called a dip, really. It's more of a scoop. This is the reason tortilla chips were made.

COWBOY CAVIAR
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1½ teaspoons hot pepper sauce
fresh ground black pepper
1 ripe avocado
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 16 oz. can corn, drained and rinsed
⅔ cup green onions, sliced
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
½ lb. Roma tomatoes, chopped
salt to taste
tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine vinegar, oil, garlic, hot sauce and pepper. Peel, pit and cut avocado into ½" cubes. Add to the vinegar mixture and toss lightly to coat. Add beans, corn, onion, cilantro and tomatoes. Mix gently to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.

Cowboy caviar can also be used as a Southwest-style relish for grilled chicken or steak.

Stolen from Deanna Buxton. Ha ha, we are dirty stealers!