Hummus

I've tried several different hummus recipes, and I've never made anything better than what I can buy at the store...until today. Below, the best hummus recipe I have yet to find:

2 cans (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup tahini
2+ tablespoons olive oil
1+ tablespoon coarse salt
2-4 cloves of garlic
parsley
pinch of cayenne pepper

Reserve 1/4 cup garbanzo bean juice, rinse beans.
Blend all ingredients together in a blender.

Eat.

Mediterranean Lemon Pepper Chicken

First recipe I wish to share here is a new one I found online over the weekend. I cooked it up Tuesday and had leftovers tonight. On a scale of 1 to very good, i give it a good.

I stole this from a recipe on www.cooks.com and modified it a bit to my liking. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1639,134190-245192,00.html

3-4 chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 can garbanzos, drained
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon Flour

1 tsp corn starch

Step 1: Rub the chicken breasts with half a lemon. I also squeezed the juice all over the chicken for extra lemony flavor. 

Step 2: In large frying pan, heat oil and saute onion till soft

Step 3: Rub chicken breast with lemon pepper. 

Step 4a: Sear chicken on both sides for 2 minutes total (1 min each side). This helps the lemon pepper rub stick to the chicken throughout cooking and cooks the flavor in. 

Step 4b: During the second minute, add the crushed garlic.

Step 5: Add broth, chickpeas, and remaining juice from lemon. Be sure to remove the seeds from the lemons before squeezing the juice into the pan. I ended up with a bunch of seeds in my meal. They are hard and not tasty. Bring to boil.

Step 6: Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes

Step 7: Add flour and corn starch. I like a thick sauce. If you prefer thinner, skip corn starch. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 8: Add 1 heaping tablespoon of parsley. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 9: Remove from heat. Serve over rice, top with fresh chopped parsley. 

Pretty tasty.