I am often inspired by the odds and ends in my refrigerator that need to get used up. I made some chicken chili recently and had some left over white beans. I wanted to make a white bean soup, but not the kind with ham in it.
The Joy of Cooking came to my aid with its suggestion of "Mediterranean White Bean Soup." No ham here! It was an easy, simple recipe. Simmer the beans, a lot of garlic, some rosemary and some water. Close to serving time, add chopped tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The soup wasn't interesting enough to photograph, sorry.
With my Mediterranean theme established I immediately knew I wanted to make focaccia. If you are unfamiliar with focaccia, I beg you to remedy that problem. Focaccia is a delicious Italian bread with delicious toppings, usually garlic and herbs. You can see in the photo below that focaccia is wide instead of tall.
Gently pressing my fingertips into the risen dough - the best part of the process!
Then it was topped with chopped garlic, parsley, rosemary and salt. Aromatic and so delicious! The focaccia got hearty praise from my husband, who ate roughly half a loaf on his own.
At the eleventh hour I decided to also add in a lettuce salad. I figured if I was in the Mediterranean, dinner would start with a salad, right? The salad was topped with tomatoes, red pepper, sliced Kalamata olives, Cojita cheese (a Mexican cheese very similar to Feta) and two hard-boiled eggs. Fresh, fairly healthy, homemade and of course, delicious!
