Mmmmm ... hummus ...

(originally posted somewhere else May 2007)

When it comes to groceries, I have a bit of a bad habit. When something's on super duper crazy nuts sale, I buy a lot of it. Sometimes that's not a big deal - buying a dozen jars of pasta sauce when it's cheaper than I couldd make it is a no brainer becaue we WILL go through it. The five dozen eggs I brought home one day not too long ago? Child's play! Breakfasts, quiche, egg salad, protein all around. Cereal, which I won't buy unless it's about a dollar a box and even then it's still probably a rip off? Dessert treat! Lucky Charms shouldn't be breakfast anyway!

Other spectacular deals have been a little less successful, and that means that every so often the food bank gets some really unusual donations. This past week, actually, they got a couple of bottles of hot chile oil, among other things.

But anyway. Back to the point. A little over a month ago, I had some great coupons and a sale price on prepared hummus. Risky venture, that, since I was fairly certain I was the only one likely to eat it ... and I was right. I ate my share of celery and cucumbers dipped in hummus, had lots of hummus burritos (tortillas, hummus, onions, cheese, and this hot sauce that I always see at Middle Eastern restaurants so I bought a big bottle a couple of years ago), and then I was stuck. What to do with the couple of cups of hummus I had left ...

So guess what it turns out that leftover hummus is good for? It mixes great with ground beef for meatloaf. A pound of ground beef, at least a half a cup of hummus, an egg, some bread crumbs (or in our case tonight, panko ... another great deal that had been languishing in the fridge), spices, and toss it in the oven.

Why am I blogging this? Cuz on the offhand chance that YOU are ever left with some hummus and just don't know what to do with it ... now you know.

I'm here to help. It's what I do.