The Steiner clan - mom, dad and my sis, Allie.


Before we left for Bali, Mike and I took a trip to see my parents and sister up in Tampa. A lot of my personal focus this year has been to spend time doing things that are meaningful to me - like family. In the past, I hadn't been as close to my family - distance and relationship-wise - due to circumstance and choices I had made. So the past few years, I've been attempting to make up for my bitchy, sullen teenage years by spending more quality time with them. And my parents, thankfully, loved me no matter what. As part of that love, they proudly kept all my soccer trophies from over the years, and on this particular visit, they wanted to know if I wanted to keep anything from the box out in the garage. 

After I was done going through the box of old sports memorabilia, I spied an old Cuisinart that had long been abandoned. "Dude!" I said, "I have been wanting one of those!" My mom replied "sure, take it - I haven't used that thing since the 80's." So I lugged the hefty Cuisinart back to Miami, giving a fresh life when all it had known before was shoulder pads and Aqua Net.

I love my Vitamix, but a food processor is a nice thing to have in the kitchen because the blade is closer to the bottom of the container - meaning you can prepare smaller quantities of things and it can mince small amounts of vegetables, make nutbutters, etc. more easily than a blender can. AND... it is absolutely perfect for hummus. 

I love authentic hummus. When Mike and I were in Dubai, I consumed so much hummus, I couldn't bear to look at it for a few months. Thankfully that was long ago and I'm back on the hummus train. Store bought brands pale in comparison to the richness of homemade hummus. This recipe is delicious - creamy, tangy and wonderful. The secret is using dried chickpeas - something I once thought was complicated but it's not! They're cheaper and tastier than canned and easily available in the bulk food section. I have tried a few recipes, but this one is my favorite, adapted from one of my vegan food idols - Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows. 

the trusty cuisinart making hummus! it's vintage.

the trusty cuisinart making hummus! it's vintage.

Homemade hummus recipe


  • 2 large cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup dried chickpeas (which will become 3 cups soaked chickpeas)
  • 1/3 cup tahini 
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon ground himalayan salt
  • 1/3 cup fresh water

Preparing chickpeas

  1. Rinse 1 cup of dried chickpeas and put in a pot. Cover chickpeas with 3 to 4 inches of water and soak overnight (or at least 8 hours).

  2. In the morning, discard the water (it will be yellow) and rinse chickpeas.

  3. Transfer chickpeas back to pot and add fresh water to cover them by a few inches.

  4. Bring water to a boil, skim off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to medium and simmer the chickpeas for 45 minutes to an hour - until they're soft enough for you to squish one with your fingers. Watch out, they're slippery :)

  5. Drain chickpeas and give a final rinse. The end result is 3 cups of chickpeas.

Hummus itself

  1. Peel the garlic cloves and with the food processor running, add the garlic in one clove at a time - watch as it is magically minced before your very eyes.
  2. Add chickpeas, tahini, salt and lemon juice to the blender. Add water to bring everything to desired hummus consistency. Process until smooth and creamy - at least 2 minutes. 
  3. Transfer hummus to a bowl and top with olive oil. Serve with freshly cut veggies, whole wheat pita or pita chips. YUM! Perfect summer snack.