Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

When I get the flu, a cold and the like, I usually am a pretty calm and patient person. I sit on the couch with my hot cup of tea and a big packet of tissues and I’m as quiet as a mouse.

As the days pass and the damn cold, flu etc. refuses to go away no matter how many glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice I have drank or how many soups I’ve eaten, well, then things change just a tiny bit.

I gradually become more and more impatient, I get cranky and a real bitch sometimes, every little thing bothers me and S needs to have nerves of steel to be able to cope with me.

Until the moment when I get noticeably better, I’m not ashamed to admit, the nagging goes on and on. In the case, however, that S is the one with the flu, then the nagging begins on day one, but that’s how it goes, doesn’t it? You have to accept the person you are with along with all of their flaws, because if you can’t handle or stand their flaws, then you won’t and can’t stand them. Because those flaws, idiosyncrasies and quirks are more evident during moments of weakness and difficult situations and of course perceivable by the people who know us, people with whom we live and share our lives, those who have seen us sick and unkempt, sad and depressed, with eyes swollen from crying, heart crushed from loss, spirit broken from failure, those who have seen us in our worst and have stood there, beside us.

Those who instead of getting upset or disappointed in us and run away from us, they run towards us and love us with greater intensity, they encourage us, make us laugh, embrace us so tightly that the warmth and sense of security brings us back to life, they lift us up not with words but with their actions, loud and clear. They endure not only us, but all that we sometimes don’t want to or can’t bear. If it’s not like that, then you are not with the right person and if you’re not willing to be like that with your partner, then you still haven’t found the right person for you.

I don’t need to search for the right person for me, I have already found him, and one mistake I never want to make is take him and all that he does for me for granted. I always try to please him in every way I can, not only because he stands by me during difficult times, but because he does so effortlessly.

One of the ways I please him is with my cooking and it shouldn’t come as a surprise because S loves good food. So when I felt a little better and I could cook something more than plain spaghetti or soup, I made this beetroot hummus that S loves. Apart from its delicious flavor we both love its color. Isn’t it fantastic?

I have been making this hummus for years yet nowhere as often as I should, because as a food blogger I always search for the next thing to make, forgetting about the recipes I love. The last couple of times I made it, I served it with spicy roasted chickpeas and it was incredibly good.

If you haven’t made spicy roasted chickpeas before then you’re missing out. Apart from being utterly delicious they are healthy, easy and quick to make and totally addictive. And of course any leftovers, you can have as a snack in front of the tv.
So do try the hummus and chickpeas this weekend!

As for all you Greeks out there, this hummus is the best side dish to serve at your Kathari Deutera (Clean/Ash Monday) table along with these:
Lagana (Greek Lenten yeasted flatbread)
Taramosalata
Melitzanosalata (Greek Smoky Eggplant Dip)
Greek braised octopus with short pasta (and how to clean and prep octopus)
Greek octopus with vinegar, olive oil and dried oregano
Midopilafo (Greek mussel pilaf) and How to clean and prep mussels
Sautéed shrimps with tahini and garlic sauce and a sumac, cumin seed and pistachio dukkah
Greek fried calamari
And more Lenten recipes

Have a great Kathari Deutera!

Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

You can use either boiled or roasted beets to make this hummus. I used boiled beetroot here, but in this recipe I had used roasted beetroot and it was amazing.

In Greece we eat roasted, salted chickpeas called stragalia (στραγάλια) as a snack, but this spicy version is the best.
You can play around with the recipe to your liking. Adding turmeric, cardamom or other spices and various dried herbs will change the flavor profile of the chickpeas. You can serve them not only with this hummus or other dips, but also on top of soups or salads.

Yield: 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

for the beetroot hummus
4 raw beetroots (about 600 g), tops and stalks cut off
250 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 garlic clove, finely grated
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

A handful fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

for the roasted chickpeas
260 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón de la Vera, dulce)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder

Pita breads, toasted, to serve

Special equipment: large food processor, baking tray, baking paper


Preparation

for the beetroot hummus
Scrub the beetroots under cold running water with your hands and place them in a medium-sized pan. Fill the pan with cold water to cover the beetroots completely and put on the lid. Place pan on high heat and bring to the boil. Boil the beetroots for about 40 minutes or until they become tender and you can easily insert a knife into them.

Drain them in a colander, leave them to cool and when they are cool enough to handle, peel them with a knife carefully. You don’t want to take too much of the beetroot away, only the skin which is pretty easy to peel off as it comes away very easily.
Cut the beetroots into pieces and leave them to cool completely.

Place them along with the rest of the ingredients for the hummus into the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. Also check if it needs more olive oil or lemon, adjusting to have the desired flavor and consistency. It shouldn’t be runny nor stodgy and it should have a tang, not be too sweet.

Empty it in a bowl.
You can keep it in the refrigerator, in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap for up to 5 days. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving and stir it very well with a spoon or spatula to make it creamy and to fluff it up.

for the roasted chickpeas
Preheat your oven to 200ºC.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Take your cooked chickpeas and rub them with paper towels to remove the skins. If you’re using canned chickpeas, dry them first. Discard the skins and transfer the chickpeas to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to mix well.
Transfer chickpeas to the baking paper-lined baking tray and spread so they are in one layer.

Place them in the middle rack of the preheated oven and roast them for 35-40 minutes, until they are golden brown and crunchy, checking them every 10 minutes to make sure they don’t burn and tossing them a bit.

If you try them straight out of the oven they may seem not crunchy enough, but once they cool they will crisp up a lot! Keep that in mind and don’t be tempted to roast them for longer or they will be rock hard when cool and you won’t be able to eat them.

You can keep them in an airtight container for weeks.

serve the hummus
Place the hummus in a large bowl and drizzle with some olive oil.
Mix some of the roasted chickpeas with some finely chopped dill leaves and scatter over the top.
Serve with pita bread cut into triangle shapes and enjoy!

Fig and mascarpone bruschetta

Some things don’t need introductions. They are as simple as they can be yet still incredibly beautiful and satisfying.

When figs are ripe and sweet, mascarpone is creamy and ham is salty, then what more do you need than a slice of good, crusty bread, some runny honey with floral notes, a few sprigs of earthy, fresh thyme, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil?

A quick recipe for bruschette that you can make as an appetizer or serve as a nibble with a chilled glass of wine or a cold beer on a warm, late-summer evening.

One of the tastiest bruschette there is.

Hope you enjoy!

Fig and mascarpone bruschetta with ham and honey

Use any kind of cured, boiled or smoked ham of which the taste you enjoy.
Instead of mascarpone you can also use cream cheese, or for a different flavor profile and if you like its tangy and sharp flavor, goat’s cheese.
For a vegetarian option, omit the ham and add a sprinkle of good flaky sea salt on top of the bruschetta.

Yield: as many as you like

Ingredients
Bread slices (from a loaf of good crusty bread)
Mascarpone
Ham slices
Fresh figs, cut in four or eight pieces
Fresh thyme leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Light-flavored runny honey
Flaky sea salt (optional)

Preparation
Toast the bread either in the oven or in your toaster.
Spread enough mascarpone cheese to thickly cover them.
Lay either half a slice or a whole slice of ham on top.
Add the fig pieces (2-3 pieces for each bruschetta).
Sprinkle with some fresh thyme leaves.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and some honey.
Sprinkle some flaky sea salt if you wish over the top.
Eat at once.

Cavolo nero bruschetta

As I’m writing this, I’m in pain. I had one of my wisdom teeth removed yesterday and it hurts like hell. I had never been to the dentist for anything other than a teeth cleaning and I have always been bragging about my healthy and good teeth. Not even one filling.

A month ago though, when I visited my dentist for a routine cleaning, she announced that my two lower wisdom teeth needed to be removed. I was terrified.

I have been through major operations and have endured a great deal of physical pain but never in any parts of my head. Not on my face, not in my mouth, not involving teeth!

I tried to be calm about it at first, but as the day of the extraction drew closer, I became agitated. S kept telling me it was nothing, my mom the same, but I knew it was going to be painful, if not during the actual removal of the tooth, but the anesthetic injection and afterwards.

Now, it is afterwards, and I’m in pain. I don’t like it. So to take my mind off the pain, I’m writing instead about these bruschette that I had when I could still chew without my jaw hurting. (It will pass, I know, bear with me, I’m in pain).

When I saw the last bunch of cavolo nero (Italian kale) at the super market the other day, I jumped on it before anyone else could snatch it. I love cavolo nero and its slightly bitter flavor reminds me a lot of the Greek wild greens zohos.

So what I did was simply boil it until its leaves became tender, removed the middle white vein and tossed the chopped leaves with good Greek olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I sliced a baguette and toasted it in the oven, I rubbed some garlic on one side of each slice, drizzled with some olive oil and arranged the kale on top. I topped the bruschette off with shaved Grana Padano and a final drizzling of olive oil, and it was the best lunch eaten on a sunny day. Simplicity in all its glory, and we needed nothing more.

PS. I’m removing the second wisdom tooth next month. Wish me luck!

Cavolo Nero and Grana Padano Bruschetta

If you can’t find cavolo nero, substitute with another type of kale.

Grana Padano is a delicious Italian cheese, similar to Parmesan but with fewer “crystals” and a milder and less salty flavor.

Yield: 14 small bruschette for 4-5 people

Ingredients
300 g cavolo nero (or other type of kale)
Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
1 baguette (14 slices)
1 large garlic clove, peeled
Grana Padano, shaved
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: colander, vegetable or cheese peeler


Preparation
Preheat your oven to 220ºC.

Fill a large pot with water and add some salt. Bring to the boil over high heat.
Rinse cavolo nero well under cold running water and trim the bottom very hard stems.
Add it to the pot and boil for about 6 minutes until the leaves are tender. Drain it in a colander and immediately run it under cold running water to stop it from cooking further.

Using a knife, cut off and discard the central hard white vein of each cavolo nero leaf (don’t remove it all the way up, it’s not that tough towards the tip of the leaf). Place leaves on paper towels to absorb the moisture and then chop them roughly (it’s easy to lay the leaves on the paper as the keep their shape when boiled). Add them to a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and half of the lemon juice, add salt and pepper and mix with your hands. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning, olive oil and lemon.

In the meantime, place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Toast until they are crispy and crunchy and have taken on a golden brown color. Remove them from the oven and let them cool a bit, enough to handle. Take the garlic clove and rub it on one side of each slice of bread and drizzle with a little olive oil. Top with some of the dressed cavolo nero and add a piece of shaved Grana Padano on top. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bruschette and serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Cinnamon toast

When I woke up yesterday morning I had a strong sweet craving but alas there wasn’t a single sweet thing in the house. How could that happen? Well, it was one of those rare occasions, enough to make me a little crazy nevertheless. My craving was bad and I had to tackle it as soon as possible.

I remembered I had once tasted cinnamon toast at an American friend’s house and I loved it. I didn’t quite remember how to make it, so after I made sure I had white bread and ground cinnamon at hand, I winged it.

I quickly took the butter out of the refrigerator to soften while I mixed together some cinnamon, sugar and a dash of vanilla. I used a fork to cream the butter together with the other ingredients and immediately I knew I was in for a treat.

I smeared my bread with the smooth, reddish-brown concoction, making sure to cover every inch of its surface, and placed it in the oven. What came out minutes later was a wonderful surprise. It was crunchy and crispy and sweet and filled with the heady flavor and aroma of cinnamon, of caramelized sugar and of melted butter.

It was reminiscent of the cinnamon cookies my mom makes and those being sold at bakeries all around Greece. And I was delighted by that. What I realized was that I had actually made a cookie without actually making a cookie. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes food can do that to you. It takes us to unexpected places and it brings up images, smells and flavors hidden somewhere inside us, in our unconscious mind. Isn’t food wonderful like that?

Cinnamon Toast with Vanilla

Make this for breakfast or in the afternoon and have it with a strong coffee, a cup of hot chocolate or cocoa.

Some of my American friends may disagree with the fact that I take the cinnamon toast to a very crispy and crunchy stage when I bake it in the oven, but this is the way I actually prefer it for reasons stated above.
I used tijgerbrood, which is a type of Dutch bread with a crunchy crust that resembles a tiger pattern. Come to think of it, I must share a recipe for this soon.

Yield: 4 toasts

Ingredients
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
4 Tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large slices of white bread

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.

Using a fork (or if you’re impatient, a handheld mixer), mix the butter with the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until you have a creamy and smooth mixture.

Spread the mixture on the bread slices, taking care to spread it all the way to the edges for best results.
The bread slices I use are somewhat thin which makes the toast crispier when baked, but you can cut your slices thicker if you wish.

Place the bread on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes and then transfer baking sheet to the top rack of the oven and bake for further 5-7 minutes or until the top has taken on a golden-brown color and the bread has crisped up.

Take the bread out of the oven and enjoy it while it’s hot or warm with a cup of strong coffee.

Lunch for one

The clocks went back an hour. The days are short now and I can feel the winter approaching. The temperature keeps dropping and the rain is persistent and hard as if it has suddenly awakened from its unusually long summer dormant state.

The trees are thirsty for it, all yellow and rusty golden. They fill the streets, not in a good way, not in the romantic way, but in the annoying way. They keep getting stuck to the bottom of my shoes and I end up bringing them into the apartment, leaving a trail behind me, like that of breadcrumbs, for me to find my way back.

There are days when I can’t get away from the kitchen, it seems like my place of solace, where I can find some peace of mind in cooking or baking, and then there are those days that I can’t stand being in that room for more than a second, when I know that I need a break from the act of cooking, a rest. I’m like that with all my great loves.

Lunch for one is served.
Homemade Greek barley bread, toasted for added texture, soft-ish boiled egg and a ripe avocado, almost creamy, never mashed. I have my preferences. Maldon sea salt, because it’s so good, and a glass of water.

One last thought. I am so glad I got to see this man play live. Rest in peace, Lou.
I’ll leave you with this.

Greek Barley Bread with Avocado and Boiled Egg

2 slices of Greek barley bread
1 ripe avocado
1 large egg
Sea salt flakes, such as Maldon


Toast the bread.
Cut avocado in half and scoop out the halves. Cut into slices.
Boil the egg to your liking. Peel and cut in half.
Season egg and avocado with salt.
Lunch for one, ready.

Another tartine

Well, you didn’t think I’d leave you with only one tartine recipe did you? If you know me even just a little you’d know that wouldn’t happen. A bit of variety is always good, especially when it comes to tartines.

This tartine is as delicious as the last one, albeit a little less complicated. It is a tartine with a homemade Greek olive paste or pasta elias (πάστα ελιάς) as we call it in Greece, coeur de boeuf tomatoes and feta. The olives I used are from Kalamata, the region of Southern Greece famous for the production of olive oil and olives, and they are fruity and briny and everything a good olive should be, making this paste exceptionally flavorful.

No matter how much I love other cheeses, my one and only true love is and will always be feta. Whipped, in salads, on tartines, it elevates the flavor of dishes and gives them a rich, sharp, creamy quality.

Along with the sweet, sumptuous coeur de boeuf tomatoes oozing with freshness, the distinct salty flavor of olive from the paste with bursts of garlic and acidity from the capers and lemon, this tartine is absolutely divine.

I’m sure many of you can’t get enough of tomatoes right now and this tempting and simple option is ideal for those of you who want to enjoy the ever so beloved fruit of the summer to its fullest.

Tartines with Pasta Elias Kalamon (Kalamata Olive Paste), Coeur de Boeuf Tomato and Feta

Coeur de boeuf (ox heart) are what these tomatoes are called here in the Netherlands were I currently reside. I think they’re called beefsteak tomatoes in English-speaking countries. If you can’t find this variety, then go with any other juicy and sweet tomato you can get your hands on. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding them this time of year.

Choose a type of bread that can handle the weight of the ingredients that you'll put on top. Sourdough is ideal but any kind of bread with a crusty crust and a dense crumb will work.

Yield: 8 tartines / about 2 cups of olive paste

Ingredients
3 large coeur de boeuf (beefsteak) tomatoes, sliced
200 g Feta cheese
8 slices of good crusty bread (sourdough or multigrain)
Olive oil, to drizzle over the tartines
Freshly ground black pepper

for the pasta elias (olive paste)
170 g pitted Kalamata olives (about 1 full cup)
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed very well
2 anchovy fillets in oil, drained well
Grated zest of 1 small lemon
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper, 3-4 grinds of the pepper mill
A handful of flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems), roughly chopped
About 80 ml extra virgin olive oil, more or less to achieve the right consistency
Salt (if needed, I actually never need any)

Special equipment: small food processor, griddle pan (I use this one)


Preparation

for the olive paste
Add all the ingredients for the paste except the olive oil and salt in your food processor and blend until smooth, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the motor running, add the olive oil little by little until you have a smooth paste, taking care to add enough oil to reach the right consistency. You don't want it to be runny nor too thick. Give the paste a taste, add salt if needed (I doubt it’ll need any as the capers and anchovies have enough salt) and set aside until ready to use.

You can keep the olive paste in the fridge, covered for 5-6 days.

Heat your griddle pan over high heat and grill the bread slices on both sides. Transfer them to a plate. Alternatively you can toast the bread in the oven or in a toaster.

Spread enough of the olive paste on the bread to cover it. Add some sliced tomatoes and crumble some feta cheese on top. Drizzle the tartines with a little olive oil and grind some black pepper over the top.
Serve immediately.