This weekend, I totally had my mind blown in the kitchen. It wasn’t due to the discovery of a new recipe, but to the enhancement of an old one.

I’ve been making hummus for at least five years now and the process doesn’t hold much variation. I soak the chickpeas overnight, cook them for a few hours the next day, add minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, cumin, salt, pepper…

…And am thoroughly disappointed with the results.

My hummus always tastes flat. Its flavors, light and acidic, never seem to have any grounding. But that was all changed last weekend when I added a 1/2 a cup of plain Greek yoghurt to the mix—a offhanded suggestion I noticed in the comments section of a recipe blog. Gosh, did that 1/2 a cup of plain Greek yoghurt make a difference! Its tangy but creamy flavor finally gave my hummus a decent base on which all the other flavors could both rest and be complimented by.

And for the first time in five years, I was not disappointed with the results.

It’s funny how something so small and simple can make a difference, how a subtle change has the power to be not so subtle. For me, such knowledge is marvelous. In cooking and in life, new recipes and new situations will totally blow our minds. They should, we’ve never encountered them before. But, it’s nice to know that the tiny things can also make a huge impact. Alter one ingredient or one life choice, and you get something new out of something familiar. There is magic in that.

My Hummus Recipe:

2 cups of cooked chickpeas, cooking water reserved

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup of virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of Greek yoghurt (or, 1/4 cup of yoghurt and 1/4 cup of tahini)

1 teaspoon of cumin (or, to taste. Sometimes, I have 1 tablespoon days of cumin)

Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

A few sprigs of parsley, chopped

Instructions:

Blend cooked chickpeas with a blender, adding a little cooking water to make a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Adjust spices and lemon juice to taste, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve with vegetables, pita chips, or wheat soda bread.