Mission: Roasted Red Peppers

Whenever i buy i jar of roasted red peppers, i end up using some of them, and the rest get moldy/weird so quickly it is such a waste, especially because i like them so much. I know i could roast them myself, but without gas its really an annoying process. This time when i was contemplating buying them i decided that i would try and use them all before they went funny.

I thought about making a soup, but instead i went for a pasta sauce where they were the base instead of tomatoes, and for the remainder, i was going to make hummus.

I pureed and seasoned the peppers for the base of the sauce and reserved some of them for the hummus

Hummus ingredients - pretty simple

The pasta as okay - i didn't love it, but the hummus was really good. I even made little samis for lunch with it.

Hummus and Grilled Veggies

A couple of weeks ago, after some drinks downtown while we were in the cab back to my neighbourhood - i thought i would like a grilled veggie sandwich from Ali-Babas - unfortunately it was closed. I kept thinking about this sandwich on and off and finally decided i would take the opportunity of all the great veggies in the supermarket to make my own. When i got there i thought i would try and make hummus too. I've made hummus before - its not exactly the most challenging this to make, but i did ask Jarred his secret. (which apparently is a lot of garlic and some spice i didn't have)

I only have a little indoor electric grill - so grilling all the veggies was actually quite a process, but i made quite a few knowing that i would be able to find other uses for them eventually. While i was grilling all the veggies - eggplant, zucchini, portabello mushrooms and sweet potatoes (i just used jarred roasted red peppers as the ones at the supermarket were expensive) i made the hummus.

Hummus is essentially only a couple of ingredients:

Chickpeas
Garlic (i didn't use too much as i was taking it to work)
Tahini (sesame seed paste)
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Simply blend these ingredients in a food processor - you can add a little hot water or olive oil if you're finding it too dry.

You can top it with whatever you want - but olive oil is essential. I topped my hummus with olive oil, red pepper flakes and sundried tomatoes. The first meal i made a wrap - like i had been craving with lettuce, tomatoes and olives - along with the hummus and veggies. I packaged up a bunch of it and took it to work, making little grilled veggie plates with pita wedges and salad. It was quite good cold - and probably better the second day.

Above:

My grilled veggie dinner/sandwich
Veggies
Lunch
All of the ingredients
Close up
Making hummus
Hummus ingredients

Good Friday Dinner Part 3 - the sides

As i've already told you - Jarred and I really cheffed it up on Good Friday, and along with the burgers, fries, grilled veggies and Apricot tart i also made a caesar salad and a selection of dips (or for some burger toppings). I used to, many moons ago, work for a great caterer who always did an amazing bread and dip station that was so lovely and a total crowd pleaser. This was my inspiration for the dips. I made a guacamole, a bruschetta-esq topping, sauteed some finely diced mushrooms, onions and garlic and there was some hummus in the fridge

I had also gotten it into my head to make a caesar salad - of course it turned out that we didn't have a number of the usual ingredients - red wine vinegar, worschester sauce or anchovies - or a blender, so i had to do some improvising. I had always seen on cooking shows people making their salad dressings in mason jars and shaking them vigorously - i used to be a bartender so i used my skills from making martinis to blend the dressing. I also mixed white vinegar and balsamic to replae the red wine. I am the Macgiver of cooking!

I used the baguette that i purchased at Ma Maison, which was phenominal by the way, to make the crostini for the dips. The baguette was quite slender, so sliced them on the bias into small thin pieces. Unfortuantly, as i mentioned, the knives left something to be desired, so this was something of a challenge. Once cut, i lightly seasoned them and brushed them with olive oil and put them into the oven. They came out really well, and i will definitely be going back there to get more Baguettes.

And there is the final installment of the Good Friday Meal - told you it was epic!