Trader Joe's sells some pretty good premade hummus blends in their refrigerated section. I am a particular fan of both the spicy hummus and the tomato and basil hummus, but since so many popular dips are of the spicy variety, I decided to recreate the tomato and basil here as part of our Super Bowl dip-a-day feature.
Since I am a firm believer that dips should be simple - especially if they're for a large party - I went with canned tomatoes. I used Muir Glen and if you use that brand as well, you have a couple of options. The recipe below calls for the plain whole peeled tomatoes (easy to find in other brands, as well), but if you prefer, you can opt to buy their Tomatoes with Basil and eliminate the need to buy fresh basil to add to the dip, streamlining the recipe a bit. The choice is yours, but it's easy and tastes quite addictive either way.
The finished dip doesn't taste quite like the Tj's version, but it has a nice slightly Italian flavor to it and the olive oil works very well with the tahini.Be prepared to play with the salt and garlic amounts a bit to get the recipe exactly right for your own tastes. Start with less than the amount I've recommended here, and gradually increase. If you don't like the taste of fresh garlic, use garlic powder, which can be a bit milder in dips.
Tomato and Basil Hummus
1 15-oz can whole peeled tomatoes (such as Muir Glen)
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans
1/2 small sweet onion (about 1/4 cup, adding more to taste)
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
pinch cayenne
1 tbsp tahini
2 tsp olive oil
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until very smooth. Adjust salt, garlic, etc. to taste.
Keep refrigerated and serve with pita chips or crackers.
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