Homemade Pitas with Garlic Scape Hummus

I had a wonderful girls night with my amazing friends Meghan and Nacie. As I've mentioned before, I am very lucky to have some really wonderful and impressive friends. The three of us got together to network and brainstorm our entrepreneurial ideas, and discuss maintaining work life balance while pursuing multiple things at once. Nacie just published her book, The Finch Effect: Five Strategies to Adapt and Thrive in Your Working Life and Meghan just left her 9-5 to pursue her own consulting business. Needless to say, we had an amazing time eating, drinking and chatting.

I wanted to make something special to nibble on and I was inspired to create something healthy and delicious using some amazing things I picked up from the farmer's market. I got some beautiful garlic scapes, french breakfast radishes and baby carrots. Craig and I are obsessed with the baby carrots from Parker Farm in Lunenberg, MA. They have super thin skin, so you don't have to peel them, just scrub and eat. They are so sweet and crunchy, we bought two pounds on Saturday and have already finished them.

So I decided to use the garlic scapes to make a tangy hummus dip for the veggies. Garlic scapes are the "stalks" of the garlic plant, which must be removed early in the growing season for a full bulb of garlic to grow. They are only available for a few weeks in May and June so grab some if you see them at a local market. They have a tender and mild flavor with a bit of garlicky bite. Hummus is a simple way to enjoy scapes and highlight their unique and tasty flavor. This hummus is incredibly simple, just a can of chickpeas, some scapes, lemon juice and olive oil.

Next I tried to figure out what else would compliment this tasty hummus. Crackers seemed so boring, so I decided to branch out a bit. The lovely and talented Katherine Martinelli guest posted at Baker Steet last week in a series of posts called Bread 101. This is right up my alley because I need to enroll in Bread Kindergarten. I literally have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to anything involving yeast. So. I saw this amazing post about homemade pitas and thought it might be doable. Both Katherine and Anuradha make bread making look so delicious and simple. Since they are both far better at this than I am, I figured if I followed the instructions I wouldn't mess up too badly.

Turns out homemade pitas are SO SIMPLE to make and so tasty. Fresh from the oven they were absolutely heavenly. Craig and I ate so many I was afraid I wouldn't have any left for my guests later. The warm, slightly fluffy pitas made a wonderful compliment to the garlic scape hummus. My only regret is that I didn't make larger batches to have some snacks for work.

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Moroccan Couscous Salad

Since my internet connection has been so shaky, I decided to take advantage of it tonight and put up a couple of posts. This is my first attempt at Moroccan cuisine. I had found some whole wheat Israeli couscous at the store and wanted to make a spicy, zesty cold salad with it. Incorporating traditional Moroccan spices and ingredients such as Turkish apricots and pistachios, this salad is an incredibly filling and unique meal. The flavoring is intense. So much so, that after mixing the salad, you should carefully sprinkle in the spice mix slowly until you reach a desired level of intensity. It is a filling vegetarian meal as well as an exciting side dish with grilled meat or fish. It is also quick and simple to prepare and will last 2-3 days in the fridge.

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Tomato and Fennel Salad

Craig is away on a business trip tonight so I seized the opportunity to make something with fresh tomatoes, since he hates them. I wanted to take advantage of all the tomatoes and herbs available right now and build a healthy salad with a lot of flavor courtesy of some crisp and spicy fennel. And my awesome grandma just sent me a mandolin for my birthday. I have been itching to use it. I got the most amazing paper-thin slices with it. Stay tuned for more mandolin adventures!

This is a great starter or a main course, since the chickpeas add both protein and fiber to the dish. You can also serve it with some arugula or kale if you want to add greens. I threw in some baby bok choy because I love it and had it in the fridge. The dressing is so simple, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic with some fresh parsley.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken tikka masala is the most popular restaurant dish in Britain. Its orgins are disputed, some argue it was created in India, while others argue it began in London restaurants in the 70s. Regardless, this is an excellent dish to try if you are interested in experimenting with Indian-style cuisine but want something simple. Indian food is not my favorite, but I wanted to use Indian spices as inspiration for a healthy, spicy dish. The sauce is rich and flavorful, with notes of spice and sweet. Tender sweet potatoes and chickpeas compliment the complexity of the sauce. Full disclosure: this is not a traditional style recipe. This is just my interpretation of this dish that can be put together quickly for a tasty dinner. Don't be turned off by the long list of ingredients, this dinner can come together in 30 minutes and basically involves throwing ingredients into a pot.

Traditionally, this delicious dish is made with butter, cream and coconut milk and served over jasmine rice. I decided to create a leaner version that's packed with protein and filling fiber. In order to cut the heat and add a creamy texture, I added non fat plain Greek yogurt. Additionally, I added chickpeas and sweet potatoes and omitted the rice. You could also serve this over brown rice, quinoa or barley if you like. I bought some quinoa flax bread at Whole Foods and used that to scrape up all the tasty sauce.

Full recipe and photos after the jump.
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