I can hardly believe it is almost the end of August and my last post here was in June! For the lack of a better word, I have completely sucked this summer at keeping this space up. If you have been following me on Instagram you will know we have been busy with our home reno, a reno that has taken way longer than expected and pretty much took over our lives. It has been hard to find a balance this summer, between our reno, sourcing materials, working, photographing and having some down time my sweet little blog took the back burner and I feel completely sucky about it.

But you know such is life. And it's one thing I kinda love about this space and my Instagram...I still felt totally connected with you all, even though there were times I took ages to get back to comments and to catch up with all your beautiful creations, it's all still there and I am still here.

There has been a lot going on behind the scenes with me, I haven't share any of our reno yet, mainly because I have been so entrenched in it and half the time we were actually doing the work my phone was no where to be seen...I didn't document it in my stories or my gram but do know I promise there will be tons of before and afters, those I have documented! I also made a pretty big spontaneous, kinda life changing decision in the past couple of weeks that I will share very very soon, its a goodie and something I am extremely excited about and also nervous. Paul is in complete support {like an overwhelming amount, I knock on wood regularly that I found that gem of a man} which of course helps to ease my nerves.

Overall everything is amazing with me, I am tired and exhausted but incredibly happy and grateful and full of love for this cozy home Paul and I are creating. And I am excited to get back into my blogging, even though is may still be sparatic as I transition into my exciting new adventure, I am still going to be here every so often with something delicious to share.

This little crostini number is a recipe from a dear co-worker. She was born and raised in Israel and only moved to Canada a few years ago so you know this shit is authentic! It is one of the best crostini I have ever eaten, the ingredients are simple but the flavours are explosive. I think you will see a little more of that from me in the future. I have a deep fondness for the simplicity of life and when your ingredients are local and fresh you don't need a whole lot of jazz to make something outstanding.

You can make these little crostini toasts as small bites, as larger open faced sandwiches or even closed sandwiches. They are super versatile and you can make extra of the roasted eggplant and red pepper as they stay well in the fridge for a few days.

I learned a new trick for making hummus that I didn't know before. Well it is kinda a two part trick...first off never use olive oil to thin your hummus, it can make it bitter tasting...instead use the water that you cooked your chickpeas in! Kinda like using pasta water in your pasta sauce to meld it all together, using chickpea water to thin out your hummus not only gives it an incredible taste it also makes it smoother and creamier. Now that does entail you soaking and cooking chickpeas from scratch, which I get can be a little more time consuming, so you can always just use regular water (just don't use oil), but the whole soaking and cooking thing really isn't that big of a deal.

roasted eggplant & red pepper crostini with authentic Israeli hummus

2 small eggplants

2 red peppers

olive oil

salt

Simple Israeli hummus

1 cup dry chickpeas {or one can of chickpeas)

3-4 tbsp good quality tahini

2 cloves of garlic

handful of fresh oregano

half a lemon juice

salt to taste

1 cup chickpea water or regular water

1 loaf of sourdough or French bread

microgreens

Directions

If you are making the hummus with dried chickpeas, soak a cup the night before. The next day in a large pot, boil some water then add the soaked chickpeas and cook on simmer until tender. Usually this takes around an hour or just over. Save 1 cup of the chickpea water for later!

Slice the eggplant to about 1/4 thickness, place the slices on a drying rack over top a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt on both side. this will release the water from the eggplant allowing it to bake without getting soggy! Let the eggplant sit for 45 mins to an hour. Once the water has been released pat it dry with some paper towel.

Cut the red pepper into four pieces, taking out the seeds in the middle.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the eggplant in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil on both sides 3-4 times or until the oil does not absorb anymore. This may seem like a lot but it does not come out of the oven oily, it just adds an obscene amount of flavour and gets the eggplant that perfect bake!

On the other parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer spread out the red pepper and drizzle with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Place both the red pepper and eggplant into the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the eggplant is nicely browned and the outsides are slightly crispy and the middle is soft. The red peppers should be roasted around the same time, they make take an extra 5 minutes give or take.

In a large food processor add your cooked chickpeas, the tahini, garlic, oregano and lemon juice. Blend until smooth adding some of the chickpea water (or regular water) until you get the consistency you like, it may not need the entire cup of water but better to be safe than sorry, you don't want to have to cook more chickpeas just for the water! But if you do happen to use the whole cup and need more regular water will suffice. Season with salt to your taste.

Slice the sourdough or french bread and toast in the oven or in a toaster.

To assemble:

Take a slice of the toasted bread, slather on a layer of hummus, then layer with eggplant and red pepper, top with some micro greens and serve!