Better to Laugh

In the spirit of eating healthier, saving money, and avoiding adverse reactions to additives in foods, I enjoy making my beef vegetable and chicken soups and almond butter from scratch. Cooking from scratch is a lot of work, but worth the effort.

I recently attempted to make my own hummus, with less than favorable results. First, I did not cook the garbanzo beans long enough; they were soft, but not creamy. Secondly, to get really smooth hummus and the ability to digest the dip more easily, the beans should be peeled. By the way, garbanzo beans are also called chickpeas. After squeezing the beans out of their shells for 30 minutes (and getting only half-way through the bowl), I realized that peeling them would be like trying to peel a pea, or milk a cat. For whatever reason, that idea came into my numb mind. I think it was a reference to the movie, “Meet the Parents.” Anyway, I had taken all I could and dumped them in the trash. Is there some secret to quickly and easily peeling these little gems?