Artisan Herb Crackers and Horseradish Hummus

I was in the mood for hummus today, but really didn't want plain old hummus so I decided to kick it up a notch with horseradish.....Horseradish you say! Sure why not, I like horseradish and I'm always looking for new ways to use it and my friend Matt gave me a recipe similar to this one only his used olive oil and I wanted mine to be a little healthier soooo, Well you see later how I did this and it really doesn't chance the flavor or texture of the hummus, just the fat content.

Horseradish Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans or about 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
2 tablespoons tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2-3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
About 1/4 cup liquid from garbanzo beans

Combine everything except the liquid from the beans in a food processor. Process on high until pureed, slowly add the liquid until disired consistancy. Make your hummus SLIGHTLY thinner than what you actually want it to be because it will thicken as it sets. Refridgerate for a few hours to let the flavors meld. Enjoy with Artisan Herb Crackers. (Recipe Follows)

Artisan Herb Crackers

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons dried herbs/seasonings*
1 teaspoon sea salt plus more for sprinkling
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup of water, or less

* I used dried parsley, sage, rosemary and course ground black pepper.....and you thought I was going to say thyme. You can use any herbs and spices you like. Maybe you like things spiced up a bit you could use crushed red peppers, and cumin for a Mexican flare. Or maybe you like onion powder and dill. Use what ever you want. There is no right or wrong for this part.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and combine well. Add the olive oil and about half of the water and stir with a fork. Keep adding water until you have a rough dry dough that just holds together when you squeeze it in your hand. knead in the bowl until it all comes together then turn it out onto the counter top and knead it for a minute or so. Now divide the dough into 4 equal pieces place 3 pieces back into the bowl and cover with a towel. Roll the 4th piece with a rolling pin into a very, very thin piece. It should roll out to roughly the size of a full sized cookie sheet. Lay the dough in the cookie sheet and cut it with a pizza cutter or pastry wheel, or just a knife into any shape and size you like. I cut mine into squares with a pastry wheel about 2 X 2 in square. But you could do triangles or even cookie cutter shapes if you like. Once again there is no right or wrong way to do this. Sprinkle with course sea salt and bake for about 15 minutes. Check on them after about 10 minutes. If they are starting to brown anywhere, they're done. Remove from the oven and let cool before moving to a bowl to serve with your horseradish hummus.

That's it. It really is easy and making our own hummus is so much less expensive than buying it at the store. And you control what goes into your food if you make your own snacks. Hope you try these recipes and let me know how they turned out. Until next time have a wonderful day.