Thursday, April 5, 2012

Artichoke and Bean Bruschetta...separated

OK so I have some BIG news!!...
are you dying to hear it?...

no, I am not pregnant...ha, ha.  did I scare you Andy? sorry that was not funny, ha, ha.
see, reason number 47 why I blog...it's midnight, everyone is asleep, the house is quite and I'm crackin' myself up...but no, i am not pregnant, it would be a miracle...

so the news: I am not pregnant but you would THINK I am...I have been craving Mediterranean food like crazy.
ok so not really big news but here is some yummy food
Ella loves artichokes (Julian just likes to say 'you can choke Arty but you can't choke me').
she picked some out at the store today...so that is where my dinner plans started.
I was thinking of steamed artichokes with a lemon aioli sauce for dipping and couldn't really think of much beyond that.

I found a recipe for Artichoke and Bean Bruschetta in this cookbook.
it sounded yummy...but I really wanted steamed artichokes so I decided to just leave the artichokes out of the recipe and have them separate.

the recipe called for cannellini beans, basil, ramano cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
I did didn't have any cannellini beans, basil, or ramano cheese, that's ok, I know how to improvise.
I did have garbanzo beans, fresh shredded parmesan cheese, and tomatoes...so not so close.
I closed the book and made a modified version of the hummus I usually make.
This is what I did.

MODIFIED HUMMUS

1 can garbanzo beans, mostly drained (I didn't want to add any oil)
1 clove of garlic
5 kalamata olives (I couldn't help it, they were just staring at me when I opened the refrigerator)
lemon juice of half of a lemon
(so I left out tahini, olive oil, and salt and added the olives)

I pulsed it in the blender leaving it with a little more texture than usual.

I spooned this onto my warm par-baked panini rustic rolls from TJ that I had just removed from the oven. Topped each one with tomato slices and shredded parmesan cheese and popped them back into the oven on the top rack until the cheese melted.

I could have left them in a bit longer until the cheese browned just a little more but my kids are going through a growth spurt or something because they are eating like teenagers and were asking every 2 minutes when dinner was going to be ready...or maybe it's just because they jumped around at Bounce U for a couple of hours, then rode their bikes, played on the slip and slide and then rode bikes for a couple more hours on a hot sunny day, hmmm?

anyways, our dinner made a right hand turn down Mediterranean lane...YUM!!
(sorry Andy, another meatless dinner...but so yummy right?)

5 comments:

  1. This looks lovely! I need to try it :)

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  2. Um, yes I will be making this. Anything paired with artichokes is good in my book =)


    - Sarah
    A Girl In Transit

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  3. This looks (and sounds:)) yummy!!

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  4. I love your blog and all of your ideas!

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  5. Ok, this looks so utterly delicious I am now incorporating a quick grocery stop on our errands today - thanks for sharing!

    xo
    cortnie

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