In addition to this being “the week of pink” here in Wonderland, it’s also been a week of dirty butter knives due to the number of spreadable inventions we were working our way through. More asparagus pesto, an addictive smoked salmon spread, the leftover extra-extra garlicy homemade mayo from a variation on these roasted potatoes, plus a fresh batch of the eye-popping beet hummus you see pictured above.

I’ve mentioned this hot pink dip/condiment/sandwich dresser-upper on the site before, but have been especially excited this week to see how well it works stirred into things (mashed potatoes, for one) or smeared over them (whole wheat bread and topped with baby arugula, for two). To make a batch, I tend to just put an adequate eyeballed amount of roasted beet chunks (leftovers put to swift use!), canned or cooked chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic into the food processor and run it to smooth while drizzling olive oil through the feed tube, large variations totally acceptable depending on pantry inventory. However, if you are the type of cook who likes numbers, I turn you towards this recipe on Not Without Salt.

Of course, these things all required plate-to-mouth delivery vehicles (admittedly, grabbing a spoon and the entire bowl works perfectly well, but we’re trying to keep it civilized) so it seemed like the perfect time to finally take a crack at these Finnish Potato Flatbreads I’d saved to my Pinterest board. I’m still messing with the recipe a bit, as it seems to take me a 450F oven and 25 minute bake time to get adequate browning, but even if I haven’t hit the ideal disc due to too soggy mashed potatoes or some other error, these are a lovely find: a no muss, no fuss addition to my repertoire that I suspect will stick with me. Three batches in, and I’m not tired of them yet.

And so, to review:

Happiness is a big scoop of…

• Beet Hummus
• Asparagus Pesto If you don’t have spinach, arugula is tasty too. I like a combo and plan to also add a bit of basil to the next batch. For nuts, I used up my pecans and walnuts and was not disappointed. Pistachios are excellent as well.
• Smoked Salmon Spread I bought this amazing fish from Neopol at the Waverly Farmer’s market, but they also have a retail outlet in North Baltimore.

Serve these treats with the crackers, breads, or crudites of your choice. Cauliflower would provide some bonus beet visual drama, I suspect. We ate ours on…

• Finnish Potato Flatbread
• 100% Whole Wheat Bread: this recipe with a 1/2 cup of seeds and grains mixed into the dough

I fear @briansacawa will soon stage a "no more jars" intervention for me.