Omar's NY-Lite Hummus

Because all of us, especially school-age children and women of reproductive age, should be eating less tuna due to its mercury content, we've been looking for other sandwich spreads. To please her husband, daughter, son and teenage grandson, my mother, Dolly Lott of Honolulu, makes this delicious recipe for low-fat, high-fiber hummus she learned from an Afghani rug merchant in New York's West Village.

• Bake 1 lb. eggplant, whole, in 350-degree oven until soft. Cool, remove skin, cut into chunks.
• Rinse and drain one 15-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Mix with eggplant in blender, along with:
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup tahini (sesame) paste
• Purée until smooth.

Serve on sliced wholewheat or pita bread or as dip for vegetables.