Are you so busy that you just keep making the same dinners over and over again? Let me help you get inspired and add another (but more interesting) recipe to your weekday “I’m in a hurry but want something healthy and tasty” repertoire.
Sweet and savory weeknight meal!
As you will see as you follow this blog, I am a huge fan of anything sweet and savory. Anything. In fact, I am thinking about publishing an eBook of my favorite, original sweet and savory recipes developed over many years. This craving started when I was a child and put Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, butter and maple syrup on bone-in chicken breasts and baked them at a high heat until the skin was crispy and brown. To this day, this simple preparation still shows up from time to time on my weekly menu. A recipe with 40 years of longevity! Still “relevant”.
Following this theme of crispy/sweet/salty/ savory, I created this flatbread which includes all of my favorite things in the Mediterranean category–hummus, Kalamata olives, Piquillo peppers, dates, salty white cheese (in this case goat crumbles), and other things to round out the flavors. Describing this recipe as “Mediterranean” is a bit misleading. I was going to call it Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Moroccan Flatbread or Three M’s Flatbread or MedMidMo Flatbread but in the end I went with my first impression of the dish. Olives. We’ll go with the Med. Dates, not so Mediterranean but bear with me.
Choose your favorite base and get started!
For the base, I chose Stonefire Tandoor Baked Naans because they come in a number of sizes and varieties (and, although India is a bit far from the Mediterranean, the Naan works great as a foundation).
You can also make your own flatbread out of frozen, thawed bread dough (frozen, thawed? What am I talking about? You know what I mean. It’s a contradiction in terms. THAW OUT A FROZEN LOAF and divide it in four pieces. That is what I mean). You can also use a multigrain flat tortilla-like flatbread like a Flat-Out Wrap but you have to be careful not to burn the bottom because they are much thinner than the Naan.
What is really helpful and easy about this flatbread is the Kroger (or other grocer’s) olive bar which you have been hearing about throughout these blog posts. There are lots of delectables on that olive bar, which, in combination, really add a lot of flavor to this dish.
I start the flatbread by giving them a nice glaze of olive oil and finely minced garlic. I bake them first to give the garlic a chance to cook a bit before being all covered up in the pile of delicious ingredients. Once the flatbreads are pre-baked, you can set them aside and come back later or just finish them.
Using hummus as your sauce, get started building this yummy meal.
You can, of course, make your own hummus (I LOVE this one from Ottelenghi’s Jerusalem Cookbook but it is a bit time consuming) or you can use the delicious Roasted Garlic Hummus from Sabra. If you are not a fan of a lot of garlic (sorry!) you can omit it from the oil mixture and you can substitute another Sabra hummus flavor.
These are quite the tasty dinner or, they make a delicious appetizer when cut into quarters. This all comes together lickity split and once you try them, you will make them over and over. With the arugula on top, you don’t even have to make a salad. I always make my own salad dressing when I am just using greens. I like to soften the flavor of dijon mustard by using the whole grain variety (this one from Maille is excellent) and reduce the pungency of the lemon juice and white balsamic vinegar by adding just a bit of honey. This also emulsifies the dressing and makes it cling to the leaves.
As you can see from the photographs, the flatbread looks like it is wearing an arugula hat. Topped off with the balsamic glaze (I like this one from DeLallo), this dish is worthy of a professional chef.
If you like interesting combinations of ingredients, a simple preparation, and a great looking dish, you will want to run to your local Kroger or other grocery store and make this ASAP!!! Main course + salad in one neat package.
Mediterranean Flatbread with Hummus and Dates
This simple layered preparation of intense flavors that marry so well together will be a new favorite. Impress your friends with a sweet and savory flatbread topped with a fresh, green, arugula salad lightly dressed with lemon and white balsamic vinegar.
Ingredients
For the Flatbreads
- 1 package Stonefire Tandoor Baked Mini Naan or 1 large 4 to a package or 1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed, cut in 4 pieces, rolled out into 6" rounds and rested
- 2 1/2 T. olive oil
- 1 T. crushed garlic
- 1 container Sabra Roasted Garlic Hummus divided with a knife into 4 parts in the container or leave intact if using a whole large Naan
- 4 oz goat cheese crumbled
- 3 oz prosciutto or speck thinly sliced
- 3 oz marinated Piquillo peppers thinly sliced
- 3 oz Kalamata olives pitted and thinly sliced
- 10 Dates pitted and thinly sliced
Arugula Salad Topping
- 5 cups baby arugula
- 1/2 t. crushed garlic
- juice of one lemon
- 2 T. white balsamic vinegar I like Trader Joe's brand
- 1 T. honey
- 1 T. Dijon mustard I prefer whole grain as it is not as pungent
- 1/3 c. olive oil
- balsamic glaze in a squeeze bottle optional but I like the DeLallo brand
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small dish (I use a ramekin), mix olive oil and garlic.
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Place 4 mini Naan or one large Naan (or the bread dough rounds) on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush with oil/garlic mixture. Bake them for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and either set them aside until you are ready to prepare the flatbreads or proceed with the recipe.
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Divide the package of hummus into 4 equal amounts and spread each one on a mini Naan or bread round. If using a whole large Naan, you will use the entire container.
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Layer, in equal amounts, the sliced Piquillo peppers, olives, dates, and goat cheese on each flatbread. Top each one with some prosciutto which you can tear or slice into strips. Bake for 10 minutes.
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While the flatbreads are baking, make the salad dressing for the arugula. In a large salad bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together, adding the arugula at the end. Toss gently to distribute the dressing.
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Place the arugula salad over each flatbread and squiggle a few squeezes of balsamic glaze over the top if you are feeling fancy.