Roasted Garlic Herbed White Bean Dip with Basil Tomatoes

Perfect Pairing: Ritz Chips

I am officially in the Christmas mood!  The odd warm weather in Chicago during December has made it difficult to feel that cozy Christmas feel you get in the weeks leading up to the big day.  Over the weekend we headed to my parents’ house, AKA Christmas wonderland.  My mom does a fantastic job of decorating the house, inside and out.  My husband was there for 5 minutes and said, “I am officially in the Christmas spirit!”.  

We did a LOT of cooking over the weekend.  I think we made about 6 dozen cookies, 15 loaves of bread, 2 lasagnas, caramelized bacon (more on this in the future) and 7 batches of homemade noodles.  Every year my dad and I make these homemade egg noodles for chicken and noodles, which we enjoy with our extended family.  We serve chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, starch on starch.  It is odd, and amazing, and the ultimate comfort food.

We listened to non-stop Christmas music.  We also wrapped presents.  Correction, Chris wrapped presents and I put bows (we call this foof in our house) on them.  My mom is the BEST gift wrapper around.  She truly has a gift.   See what I did there?

We also worked on our menu for the next couple of weeks.  Per usual, there is an appetizer night scheduled.  Who doesn’t love appetizers and a glass of wine?  It is my favorite kind of meal.  Roasted Garlic Herbed White Bean Dip with Basil Tomatoes is the perfect addition.  Not only is it delicious and light, it is quite festive if I do say so myself.  All sorts of red and green happening here.

If you would like a shortcut you could skip making your own hummus (but really don’t skip that) and top store-bought with the tomato and herb mixture.  While you are at it, roast multiple heads of garlic.  They are great to have on hand for salad dressings, mixing in mashed potatoes, or as a straight up spread on crostini.  

This dip was quite tasty served with Ritz Chips.  Those things are too tasty for their own good.  I am not sponsored by them in any way, I'm just a fan.  It would also be great with pita chips or your favorite cracker. 

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and New Year with your loved ones!  I cherish this time with my family celebrating the birth of our Savior and reflecting on the year.  This one was pretty special me! 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Mustard Pork Chops

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Fruit Slush

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: German Sugar Cut-Out Cookies (pictured above!)

Four years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Flatbreads with Thyme, Honey, and Sea Salt

Tweet

Grilled Pizza with Asparagus, Caramelized Onions, Hummus and Brie

Perfect Pairing: Sabra Classic Hummus

 

Last week was our annual family vacation at the lake.  I look forward to this week all year.  One of my brothers lives in California so it is hard for all of us to be in the same place at one time.  We had an absolutely wonderful time enjoying each others company, the summer weather, lake, good food, and lots of cute kids.  I miss everyone already!

I am a big fan of unusual pizzas and flatbreads.  I have shared a few creations here…

Caramelized Onion, Fontina, and Prosciutto Flatbread

 

Shrimp and Arugula Pesto Grilled Pizza

 

Smoked Salmon Pizza

 

Even traditional pizzas can sometimes benefit from an update, like with this Prosciutto and Pineapple Grilled Pizza.

 

 

The combination of hummus, asparagus, caramelized onions, and brie on pizza may seem a little strange, but it is one of my all-time favorites.  Using hummus as the “sauce” adds a rich creaminess, and the onions add just the right amount of sweet. 

 

This pizza is great as a main course, but it is also perfect on appetizer night.  We have a lot of appetizer nights at our house.  Usually on app night we serve a dip or salsa of some kind, a salad or veggies, and a crostini.  This pizza fits right in. Add a bottle of chilled white wine and you have yourself a party. 

 

I really like to use Sabra’s Classic Hummus here.  I am not being sponsored in any way to say that, I just really like it. 

 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Grilled Bacon Wrapped Beer Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

 

Tweet

Coconut Curry Hummus

Perfect Pairing:  Coconut milk recipes

One of my favorite memories this summer was an afternoon spent at my friend’s boat in a Lake Michigan harbor.  It was perfection.  We didn’t take the boat out, we just sat in a float chatting, eating, and sipping on champagne.  Oh, and admiring the city skyline.  I can’t believe I have lived in this city for almost 9 years and have never been in the harbor.  Of course, the champagne fit the nautical theme.

To snack on, I brought Pioneer Woman’s Restaurant Style Salsa, which is incredibly easy and delicious, and this Coconut Curry Hummus.  Coconut and curry is one of my favorite flavor combinations, but it is not overpowering in this recipe.  The hummus was great with fresh veggies, pita chips, and crackers.  I think it would be great as a spread on a chicken sandwich as well.

The coconut flavor in the hummus comes from the thick coconut cream found at the top of a can of coconut milk before you stir or shake it.  I have no idea if that is what it is actually called, FYI.  Since you are only using two tablespoons you still have a full can of coconut goodness to use.  Might as well use it in another recipe.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Shrimp and Arugula Pesto Grilled Pizza

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Tropical Rice

Coconut Curry Grilled Pineapple

Coconut Curry Fish

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing - Turkey Enchiladas

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing - Light Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Click "Read more" for the recipe....

Tweet

Tuna Hummus Melts

Perfect Pairing: Sabra hummus

My typical Saturday morning ritual is to clean my place with the Food Network on in the background.  If I glance up and see something interesting I will shut off the vacuum and tune in.  On one such morning I saw my favorite cook, Barefoot Contessa, make a tuna salad sandwich and she served it over a layer of homemade hummus.  Brilliant!  I loved that idea.  Of course, she made her own hummus and the tuna salad still had full fat mayonnaise in it, but it gave me a great idea.  Why not substitute hummus for mayonnaise in the salad?  Even though hummus still has some fat from the tahini it is a much healthier option. 

I made Tuna Hummus Melts for a small get together at my house and I really liked them.  You truly don’t miss the mayonnaise.  I used rye bread, a few slices of tomato, and havarti dill cheese melted on top.  My favorite brand of hummus is Sabra.  The classic variety was perfect in this recipe but you could use one of the flavored versions for an added kick.

There was quite a bit of leftover tuna after the party so I made my own version of tuna noodle casserole.  I made a basic white sauce, stirred in some cheese, cooked pasta, the leftover tuna, and frozen peas.  Voila!  It was quite tasty.  Just something to keep in mind if you have some leftovers!

 

Tweet

Edamame Hummus

Perfect Pairing:  St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago is a pretty big deal.  Everyone in the city is Irish on March 17.  The entire metropolis turns into a party starting around 10 AM when the river is dyed green.  It is shocking how green it gets!  I always assumed that the city bank rolled the color job but apparently it is privately funded.  The photo below is from 2010 which was a cold and dreary day.  They are predicting 70+ degrees for Saturday so I can only assume that will add to the mayhem around here!

 

I get to spend this St. Patrick’s Day with some of my favorite people.  I can’t wait!  My mom has even hinted that she might try a green beer…. I don’t think she has had a beer in her life.  That should be interesting.

I wanted to provide some Irish themed food to snack on, but did not want to use green food coloring.  I turned my focus to naturally green ingredients like vegetables, pesto, and well, I guess that is it.  I remembered reading about edamame hummus and thought that would be the perfect party food.  Not only would it be naturally green it would be healthy! 

This edamame hummus is flavored with tahini, lemon juice, and roasted garlic.  Roasted garlic is a very good thing.  Roasting the garlic completely transforms the flavor so it is almost sweet.  You can even spread it directly on crostini.  Yum.   To roast an entire head of garlic you just chop off the top and remove most of the outer papery layer, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast until it is golden and soft.

Before going into the oven….

After…

 

The edamame hummus was slightly sweet from the roasted garlic and had an earthy taste from the tahini.  It was a lovely shade of green, which makes it the Perfect Pairing for St. Patty’s Day!

Tweet