This was one of the first weekends, in a long time, that our little family didn’t have anything scheduled. No ballet recitals. No first communions. A wide open weekend.
But of course, you know what that means for me; what once was a “free” weekend ends up instead becoming a few days where I cram everything onto my once empty “to-do” list.
This weekend that “to-do” list was filled with some daunting yard work. Thankfully my better half is a trooper and somehow still agrees to my crazy plans. Even after 10 years of me saying, “you know what I was thinking we could do…?”, he just smiles and goes along for the ride. He should just run when he hears those words.
JonPaul, with the help of our kiddos too, did a pretty awesome job tackling my “to-do” list and sprucing up our yard. The worked pretty darn hard.
So while they were busy working outside, I worked in the kitchen putting together a fun little lunch to reward them 😉 (I’m not sure this was the “reward” they were hoping for…but a fun lunch none the less).
One of my favorite ways to cook meals for my family is to create big platters or boards like this filled with all of our favorite things. A smorgasbord of sorts. Sometimes it’s filled with different cheeses, fruits, and crackers. And other times it’s a mix of leftovers or whatever I can find in the fridge (and sometimes it’s literally a frozen waffle cut up with half of a quesadilla and an orange. Let’s not pretend they always look like this 😉
Here I created a spread of all of my favorite Mediterranean treats. A few dips, a few toppings and then I surrounded it all with some roasted veggies, fresh veggies and of course some toasted pita.
I love dishes like this because each bite is different and there’s always a little something for everyone. But what I really love about this is how easy it was to put together, how versatile it is and how it’s filled with all things that are GOOD for you!
The base of the platter is my favorite hummus. I have been making this hummus recipe on repeat for years. It’s bright and zesty and garlicky and creamy. And kind of addicting.
I spread the entire platter filled with hummus (so probably about 2-3 cups of hummus) and then I topped it with a little tabouli, some chopped tomatoes and roasted chickpeas (I mean who doesn’t love chickpeas on top of chickpeas ;), and my homemade tzatziki sauce. But you could really add anything you want. The idea is that everyone can “scoop” a little of this or a little of that. It’s a choose your own adventure kind of meal.
On the side, I added a few za’atar roasted carrots and cauliflower, some radishes, cucumbers, and toasted pita. But again this is one of those things that you can have some fun with, or honestly just use whatever you have in your fridge. Some leftover crackers, sugar snap peas, slices of peppers. Whatever. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Then I drizzled the whole thing with some olive oil, sprinkled a few dashes of dill and parsley, placed it in the middle of the table and told everyone to dig in and enjoy. And we all did. Not a bad lunch for a day crossing things off our “to-do” list. Maybe next weekend I’ll let JP relax 😉
I should also note that for this particular dish, I made all the of different ingredients, but you can just as easily buy them at your local grocery store. You can use store-bought hummus (this is my personal favorite), or store-bought tzatziki sauce or tabouli. I promise it will be just as good.
Recipe:
Recipe:
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