Nothing quite like fresh bread

One of the hardest things about cooking — for me, and for many other people I have talked to, of all ages and cooking levels — is figuring out what to make for dinner when you get home late and tired at the end of the day. Maybe your creativity was sapped at the office. Maybe you’re in a bad mood, and just want to eat. Maybe you’re in a good mood, but don’t have any inspiration. There are many ways to deal with this. I have three or four super-easy default meals that I always have the fixings for, and if I’m really not interested in cooking, I throw together one of those.

But cooking is most fun, and meals are most comforting, when some care and thought goes into them. That means creativity. That means inspiration. I find that inspiration always comes easier if I have a starting point, usually one special ingredient that I know needs to be used, and that deserves to be used well. In the summer, that might mean the first ripe tomatoes or a bag of tender, fresh spinach. In the winter, it might mean some potatoes that are about to sprout and take on a life of their own. This week, it was the french bread that Nathan baked. He made it on a whim, and we enjoyed crackly slices warm from the oven before bed.

But homemade bread needs a good meal to complement it. I wanted something to go on the bread, ideally something loaded with veggies or protein, to make a nice round meal. So, for two dinners, we had two variations on bread-with-beans (both tastier than it sounds!)

Dinner one: It was sort of a cold and dreary day, so something warm was in order. (A few weeks ago, I would have made soup, but it’s too close to spring for that now.) I chopped some mushrooms and sauted them in olive oil with plenty of garlic and herbs, and stirred in beans. I used butter beans, but it would have been nice to have something more brightly colored. I added some stock to soften the beans, then cooked until most of the stock was absorbed, which resulted in a warm, thick spread. We warmed the bread bread and spooned beans on top, with some good cheese on the side.

Dinner two: Bread and hummus is one of the simplest meals I know, and fresh bread makes it extra good. It was especially nice today because I was feeling tired and not in the mood for extravagant cooking. I blended a good bowlful of spinach into the hummus (making it healthier as well as a very pretty green color) and used plenty of garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. My shortcoming is that I always use to little seasoning, but with hummus, you can taste and add more of everything until it’s just right. I topped my bread and hummus with some kalamata olives, which add a nice bite. I love olives, and I never fit enough of them into my cooking. The combination had a great warm-weather Mediterranean feel. It would be great to do this again in the summer, because hummus and bread is one of the few meals in my catalog that takes no cooking at all.

The only downside is that now the bread is gone! I will have to persuade Nathan to make more.