Tomato Basil Hummus

So much basil, so little time!!

You will need:
1 big tomato (I used a hothouse tomato, you could probably use 2 or 3 romas)
5-6 basil leaves
3 TBS olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas
salt/pepper
1TBS lemon juice
2 cloves garlic

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat (olive oil has a low smoke point, and heating it too high can damage the molecules, which in turn causes problems when your body tries to use those fats... more on this later).
2. Cut tomato into chunks so the blender can tackle it. Add to oil.
3. Roughly cut the garlic cloves. No precision needed here, it's going into the blender anyway.
4. Wash and cut basil leaves by stacking the leaves, rolling them, and cutting across the roll. Voila! basil confetti!
5. Let the tomatoes, garlic, and basil hang out in the hot oil, stirring occasionally, while you open, drain, and rinse a can of garbanzo beans.
6. Put the beans, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tomato/oil mixture into the blender (or a food processor, if you're so fortunate as to have one). Blend until smooth.

Store the hummus in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Next time I make these, I think I'll seed the tomatoes or add another can of garbanzos. The hummus was less thick than I would like.

Back to super-heated fats...

When you heat an oil too high, the molecular composition of the oil changes. It becomes damaged, and lots of nasty by-products are also produced. Cooking by grilling or frying, or hydrogenating oils (like the fats in processed foods like margarine) causes these changes. When we ingest these damaged fats, the body still tries to use them. They become part of the phosopolipid bilayer in our cell membranes which causes the cells to become more rigid, and contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. Damaged fats also create inflammation, which can aggravate arthritis and cause a number of other problems.

Moral of the story: cook low and slow. Baking, crock-potting, and boiling are some of the best ways to prepare foods without damaging the fats or other nutrients present.