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This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is bagels, and I get to host! That means you’ll find the recipe at the bottom of this post.

I’ve made bagels before and though I’ve always enjoyed it (it can be a bit of a process), they usually turned out kind of thin and wrinkly. These, however, turned out beautifully, and I got the ultimate seal of approval when the girls told me that they tasted better than Einstein’s bagels!

I did change a few minor things:

~ Instead of six cups of bread flour I used four cups of bread flour and two of whole wheat flour.

~ After the initial rise, I punched the dough down and put it in the fridge overnight (the recipe does say this is an option).

~ I only let the bagels boil for 30 seconds per side instead of the 90. In my experience, bagels that boil for too long get too chewy/tough.

~ For the first half-batch of five I sprinkled the tops with kosher salt and dried onion (the onion looks like it got a bit overdone, but they tasted fine. I obviously missed the part about soaking the onion in some water first), and for the second batch I sprinkled sea salt and onion powder. Both were delicious, and made excellent bagel sandwiches.

~ I didn’t bother with a flour-covered towel. I just put the formed bagels on the flour-dusted countertop without a problem.

~ Tossing water and ice into the bottom of the oven did freak me out a little, so I covered a pan with foil and tossed ice cubes onto that instead.

~ I used my stand mixer for the dough, and used the instructions for that in the recipe below.

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Several months ago I finally gave in to a super special Pinterest trend and made baked kale chips. People were saying they were a great substitute for potato chips (they’re not), and that you could eat them by the bushel (I certainly can’t).

However. They are good.

But just don’t compare them to potato chips. People saying that sweet potato fries taste better than regular french fries got me to try those, and to this day I give a serious side-eye to anyone else who makes that claim.

But kale chips are good.

You don’t even need to haul out any heavy equipment. Just tear curly kale into a salad spinner, rinse it, and spin it.

If food is prone to fly out of bowls and around your kitchen when you try to mix it, stuff the kale into a food bag and dump in a tablespoon or so of olive oil and some sea salt and shake, shake, shake.

Dump onto a baking sheet (I like to line mine with foil because I am lazy).

Bake at 350° for about 12-14 minutes or until the edges start to just get brown. I like mine a little on the crispier side, so 14 minutes is about right for me. Just try not to undercook it because it gets chewy.

Your kitchen will smell weird.

That’s it. Dump it in a bowl and chow down until you get sick of it and have to pass it off to the kids.

I love love love hummus, and it was a happy day indeed when I discovered that you could make it at home!

However, I’ve had a hell of a time trying to find tahini, one of the main ingredients, at the grocery store, and I’m not willing to spend $20+ at a specialty shop. So I filed it away in the back of my mind and just bought the tiny, expensive little tubs when I needed it.

But I was on Amazon the other day looking for something completely unrelated, when one of the related search suggestions (seriously) showed a jar of tahini. And it was affordable! And Prime shipping! So I bought it.

It arrived today (along with the unrelated item I needed in the first place), and I picked up several cans of garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) while I was at the store this morning.

I hunted around online for a good recipe, and they’re all pretty standard. However, the issue that I had with them is that they all call for two cups of beans. One can of garbanzo beans is 1-1/2 cups, so you need two cans, but you’re not using over half of the second one. I didn’t want it taking up space in the fridge (yesterday was yogurt-making day and salad jarring day), so I dumped both cans into the food processor.

I used this recipe for my jumping off point, and here’s what I did instead:

Homemade Hummus

2 cans garbanzo beans (about 3 cups), drained (reserve some of the liquid)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, halved
1 tsp ground cumin

In a food processor, combine garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic and cumin until smooth. Add some of the drained garbanzo bean liquid if it’s too thick. Test for taste and adjust as needed, pulsing after each addition.

Place in a dish and sprinkle with paprika and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with sliced veggies and baked pita chips.

I could literally just eat this with a spoon. It’s a thousand times better than store bought, and it makes a ton so you’ve got plenty for some healthy snacking. I tested it out with baby carrots, and my oldest had some with Wheat Thins. I know it’s traditional to serve with pita chips, but I’m trying to lay off the processed carbs for summer, and carrots were perfect (and so were the Wheat Thins).

Store it in a regular plastic container in the fridge, which works well when you have to smooth out the top after a few sneaks.