Potluck panic

I received an unexpected MEO delivery this week.  I chose to do biweekly delivery when I set up my account online - but I had unknowingly chosen to have the biweekly service to start after my second delivery...the nice people of MEO dropped off another box of goodies, without a return bin sitting on the porch, and without a single payment yet - that's trust! 
Even though the mix up was my error (granted looking back now, the website is a little confusing) - I was only charged for 1/2 of the delivery.  I love good customer service. 
This week's delivery didn't contain anything particularly interesting - but with a relatively slow couple of weeks of cooking, I am now a little overloeaded with produce.
On Thursday we had our monthly office potluck, for which I had planned to make Giada's butternut squash lasagna ...but the overload of fresh veggies had me worried about waste, and I knew my b-nut squash would hold out, so I decided to chop a load of veg (sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, ginger), and threw them in the crockpot with some red lentils, curry powder, almond butter, tomato paste, and s&p...i was hoping for a nice thick lentil stew, to serve with basmati rice.  Fast forward 9 hours as I eagerly anticipated a taste of my concoction upon my return home from work (9pm). I was a little nervous - i made up the recipe, and didn't leave myself a backup plan for the potluck should the stew not work out.  And work out it didn't.  ugh.  The lentils were hard and dry - as if they weren't cooked through.  These are not the type of dried legumes that need to be soaked either - the directions on the package tell me they're quick cooking (30mins in boiling water).  It's still a bit of a mystery, but my thinking is that they were cooking in a salty broth, which may have prevented them from absorbing sufficient liquid to make them plump up.  Think osmosis people! Needless to say, I was in panic mode - over a potluck? yes! this was a foodie-dietitian potluck! big things are expected!  Simply going out to buy a potluck contribution is sacrilege! First, I drowned my stress by eating 2 rows of amaretti cookies, and a handful of mini M&Ms.  Next,  I quickly scoured my cupboards for ingredients, and All Recipes and several of my cookbooks for quick, easy and impressive potluck options.  Bingo...pesto something...I knew I had basil on hand for the lasagna I originally planned.  But pesto what? Throwing caution to the wind, I brazenly decided to try another made up recipe: Pesto Hummus! Luckily...this recipe wasn't a disaster...in fact it was a hit!

Erin's Basil and Walnut Pesto Hummus

• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed (i like Unico)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon
• about 1 cup of packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 walnuts
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup-ish (can't quite remember) EVOO
• s&p to taste

1. I made the pesto (basil, walnuts, 1/2 the EVOO, 1 clove garlic, parmesan) and hummus (chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 the EVOO) seperately - because I honestly didn't know that I was going to mix them at first!  But I don't see any reason why you could throw it all in the food processor together! 
2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor except for the EVOO.  Process until well combined, drizzle in oil slowly as the machine is running until you reach a desired consistency (it may be more or less than 1/2 cup worth).

I stopped at my 24 hour Sobey's and picked up a fresh whole wheat baguette, and a box of the ACE bakery cranberry and raisin baguette crisps to eat with the hummus.  Yum yum, especially the baguette crisps, the sweet dried fruit was a great flavour compliment to the super savoury dip.

Other potluck contributions included Maria's homemade Sage Butter Gnudi (think gnocchi, replacing potato with ricotta cheese), Dara's Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, Andrea's roasted balsamic veggies, Marci's Apple, Cranberry, Almond and Pinenut Quinoa Salad, Heather's spinach and strawberry salad, Katherine's Crabcakes with creamy basil dipping sauce, and Daphna's low fat Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake (which seems like an oxymoron, but it was sooooooooo good - try it!).  See what I mean?! Not your average potluck fare :)

I haven't been able to get the butternut squash lasagna recipe off my mind - so today's the day!  It actually just came out of the oven, and it smells like heaven.  I followed the recipe exactly, and it was really quite simple! I can't wait to try it :) will report back soon! Here are some preview photos to whet the appetite...