Continuing on with my recent run of extreme simplicity, I made a dinner that looks far more time-consuming than it actually was.
Hummus on Baguette
This toasted baguette has been baked with a bit of garlic butter (minced garlic, salt, butter) and topped with a warm homemade hummus.
Sounds complicated? Not at all. I used canned chickpeas and suffered very little. The garlic was cooked with a bit of olive oil until it had slightly mellowed, then I added the can of chickpeas and brought it to a simmer. After a few minutes I tossed the results in a blender and added a bit of tahini (ground sesame seed paste) and some Meyer lemon juice. That might sound like a waste of good Meyer lemons, but my regular lemons had already been claimed for something earlier in the week. It worked out...
The still-warm hummus is drizzled with extra olive oil and sprinkled with some chili powder.
Roasted golden beets and asparagus
This simple dish of roasted golden beets and asparagus was prepared the usual way, with a few small adjustments... olive oil, pepper, and a little porcini flavored salt. I waited to add the asparagus to the pan until the beets were pretty soft already, so that I could avoid over-cooking the asparagus.
I meant to eat about half of this side dish and reserve the rest for another day, but I greedily ate every last bite.
Not bad for about 10 or 15 minutes conscious preparation work...