Hummus is a crowd pleaser that’s easy to serve at book club meetings. Light and tasty, you can also make it gluten-free by serving it with rice crackers instead of pita bread or pita chips. Hummus is easy to find in grocery stores, but it’s so simple to make on your own that you may want to wow your book club members by serving up a dish you have whipped up yourself. Here’s what you’ll need to make about 3 cups, which should serve  eight to 10 people as an appetizer:

• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped (optional as some people can’t tolerate garlic well)
• 2 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed or bottled is fine)
• 2/3 cup roasted tahini (sesame seed paste found in many grocery stores in the ethnic food aisle)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• dash of black pepper (to taste)
• roasted pine nuts and fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Place all ingredients up through olive oil into a blender or food processor. Whir until well blended. Transfer hummus to a serving bowl and stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper. Taste and add more of each if necessary. Garnish with roasted pine nuts and parsley if desired. The entire process, including clean up, should take no more than 15 minutes.