Hyde Park Crudités

 

Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre & Hummus

Ingredients

For hummus

• 4 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chick-peas, rinsed
• 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup stirred tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup water

• Garnish: 160 small fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• pitas
• olive oil

 

Preparation

Toast pitas:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Halve pitas horizontally and stir together oil and paprika. Brush rough sides of pitas with paprika oil and season with salt. Cut each pita round into 8 wedges and bake in single layers on a large baking sheet in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until crisp. 

Hummus:
Finely grind cumin seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder. Purée chick-peas in a food processor with cumin, garlic, parsley, tahini, lemon juice, and salt and add enough water to make smooth.

We had this during an editing and post-it-ing session on the terrace of the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre.

 

Poetry Café Goat Cheese Salad

 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup French green lentils*
• 6 cups 1-inch pieces peeled seeded sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (from about one 2-pound whole pumpkin)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika**
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 cups baby arugula
• 1 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

 

Preparation

Place lentils in small bowl. Cover with cold water and soak 10 minutes; drain.

Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Drain lentils. Rinse under cold water, then drain.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pumpkin in large bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika, and sea salt. Arrange pumpkin in single layer on baking sheet; roast 20 minutes. Turn pumpkin over. 

Roast until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.

Combine lentils, pumpkin, and oil from baking sheet with arugula, half of goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among plates; sprinkle remaining goat cheese over.

The first time we tried goat cheese salad here was: lunch on Friday, May 17, 2013.

(This recipe is similar to the goat cheese salad we had that day.)