Mussels: Ariel's Hummus

From the looks of the mob whenever I venture out of the office every aging hippy lady in the greater Portland area already knows about this delicious secret. Sold at a stand in front of Big Sky in Monument Square at the weekly farmers' market on Wednesday, Ariel's hummus is quite simply...the shit. Well that's not exactly true, the hummus is above average but the fresh made pita bread is world changing.

- Chipolte Cilantro Hummus - $3.50 - There are 3 varieties of hummus offered, the chipolte/cilantro, plain and one garnished with whole chick peas. I always gravitate towards the hot and have gone through 2 cartons of this stuff. The texture is nice and creamy with a spicy finish. The cilantro adds more to the nice greenish color than it does the taste but overall this is much better than any store bought hummus I've ever tried.

- Package of 5 Pita Breads - $5.00 - Being the uneducated gringo ( or whatever a person of Middle Eastern descent would call me) that I am, I had always associated pita bread with that scratchy, tasteless, hollow stuff found in most grocery stores. The bread turned out by Ariel and his cronies is far from that unpleasant experience. First the bread is not hollow and second it's as soft and fluffy as a pillow. They bake it so fresh that once I received it still hot in the bag. If $5 seems pricy then well... you're an idiot, please leave. One loaf of bread and a 1/3 of hummus is enough for a suitable lunch, even for a growing boy like myself.

If you're in downtown Portland during the day on Wednesday then a stop at Ariel's booth is required. This stuff is really special.