Grilled Flatbread with Hummus & Summer Veggies

Last week I was working to figure out what to do with some left over vegetables from my Char Grilled Summer Vegetables over Penne Pasta recipe.  I went through a bunch of ideas an ended up making a Soup of Pureed Summer Vegetables, which was really delicious.  In the thought process, I came up with an idea of putting the vegetables with some hummus on a pita.  We have vegetables with our Best Hummus Recipe all the time, so it seemed like a natural pairing to put some grilled veggies with it as well.  It just seemed a little too blah for us though, so I thought that a sauce on top might be the differentiation factor that was needed.

Typically I would make a sauce for it with some cilantro since that is my favorite summer herb, but our cilantro in pots have bolted to seed and the cilantro we had inside was a little too passed its prime.  Caroline suggested that we use some of the chives we had in pots, so that is what we made.  A lemon, chive, shallot and caper sauce that really added a lot to the dish.  It’s simple to make, just add lemon, chives, capers, shallots and some olive oil together and mix.  Put in some salt and pepper for good measure and you’re off to the races.

We changed up the pita for some flatbread that we had in the freezer from when we made our Greek Flatbread Pizza recipe.  If you haven’t tried that one, it is really delicious.  I would call that a vegetarian delight.  So full of flavor that it’s hard to stop with just one.  The hummus flatbread that you are reading about today is really terrific, but on a more subtle level.  The flavors don’t punch you in the face like they do with the Greek Flatbread.  All told, either one is great.  Try them both and you decide.

Makes enough for 4 flatbreads

Ingredients for the hummus:

2 cans garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed

2 lemons, juiced

1 head roasted garlic

1 tsp ground cumin seed

1/3 cup good tahini paste

1/3 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt

1/3 or more cups olive oil (more if the consistency is too thick. Or add water if you are avoiding adding more oil.)

Small handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves

Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Ingredients for the Summer Veggies

1 summer squash, washed and halved lengthwise

1 zucchini, washed and halved lengthwise

1 green or red pepper, washed and quartered

2-3 scallions, washed

Olive Oil

Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

1 large tomato, washed and sliced thin. Set aside.

Ingredients for the Caper Sauce

1 tbsp chopped chive

1 heaping tbsp capers, drained

Zest from 1 lemon

Juice from 1 lemon

1 shallot, minced

The first thing to do is roast the garlic for the hummus. Turn a toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees. Trim the top off a head of garlic and place in a ramekin. Coat in oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on. Cover with aluminum foil and make a tight seal. Put in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour. If you choose, skip this step and use 4 cloves of minced fresh garlic instead. If you roasted the garlic, when it is done squeeze the cloves from the head into a food processor.

To the food processor, add in all remaining ingredients for the hummus with the exception of the olive oil. Start to process and drizzle the olive oil into the hummus. Allow to process for 4-5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. If it is too thick, add some water or some more Greek yogurt. Too thin, add some more tahini as it is a thickener. The hummus is ready to go!

For the vegetables, turn on the grill to medium high heat. Coat the vegetables in olive oil, but leave the tomato set aside. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables for about 4 minutes a side or until cooked through. Remove from the heat. Place the flatbread on the grill and turn every 20-30 seconds until both sides are slightly crisp. Remove from the heat. With the vegetables, slice thin, half-moon coins from the squash and zucchini and slice the pepper thin. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the Caper Sauce. Set aside.

Spoon some hummus on each flatbread and spread evenly. Layer the thin tomato slices over the hummus. Add on the sliced grilled vegetables and spoon some of the sauce over the top. This dish has it all- great flavor as well as tons of proteins and vitamins. It’s a great lunch or dinner option. Chow down on this grilled flatbread pizza recipe as soon as possible.

Grilled veggies over some hummus makes a great meal. Photo by Scott Groth