Saturday night mezze

I had the best night on Saturday – a night in front of the television, eating mezze, sipping sparkling red wine. For those of you who haven’t tasted the wonders of the sparkling red, do give it a try.

I’ve talked about my mezze here before, but just to recap the highlights of the night:

Roasted aubergine
So simple. Half it lengthwise and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 45 minutes at 200 and serve. Go to town with a fork and night.

Courgettes with yogurt
A twist on tzatziki. Grate a large courgette, sprinkle with salt and let them sweat a bit in a colander. Squeeze the excess water out and mix with a handful of dill and 50g greek yoghurt.

Carrot and parsley
The dark horse of the group. I’ve done carrot/radish/thyme before as well as carrot/radish/oregano, but this one trumps them both. Pulse the carrots in a food processer, then add chopped parsley and one clove of garlic and mix through. It looks so similar to tabbouleh.

Stuffed vine leaves
I confess – I bought these.

Black olive and feta
100 g feta, crumbled and mixed with 100 g black olives.

Harissa
Potentially the best condiment on the planet.

Pitta bread

mini-mezze

Tonight it was wine tasting night - pinot noir at that. After interviewing six excellent wines, I came to the professional decision that the most expensive one was the best. Brilliance, I tell you.

But after such lovely wines, nothing but the best produce would do. I wasn't in the mood to cook much of anything, but seeing as I've rededicated myself to simple food at home, I dutifully headed home for dinner.

I went straight for the veggies: namely, aubergine and courgette. These soft, delicate vegetables are getting better by the day.

Simple preparation serves these vegetables best: roast the halved aubergine with a few sprays of olive oil, and finely chop the courgette and mix with fat-free yogurt. Once the aubergine is ready, spread a thin film of harissa over the flesh. Serve together.

I'd be happy (I have been happy) to serve these two as part of a larger mezze - but not tonight. And luckily I didn't have to cook for anyone else - while I was busy elegantly tasting wines, my husband was tucking into a kebab.

make your own... hummus

Instead of buying ready-made hummus from the store, it's really very easy to make your own. Traditional recipes include tahini, or sesame paste, along with garlic, lemon juice and chickpeas. Some recipes use yogurt.

This afternoon, with the aid of a simple food processor, I whipped up a remarkably tasty hummus, even though I had no tahini. Give it a try

quick and yummy homemade hummus
(serves 4)

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves of garlic
leaves from 1 stalk of rosemary
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of fat-free natural yogurt

Combine the first four ingredients in a food processor and chop finely. Should you like an even smoother consistency, try using a blender or a hand blender. Empty the mixture into a bowl, and stir through the yogurt and season. Chill if not eating immediately.

This recipe can be easily amended to include lots of different flavours - coriander, chilli, olives, feta. And it would work remarkably well as part of a mezze.

We munched on carrots, celery, cucumber and radishes with this dip whilst on the couch catching up on Grey's Anatomy. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon really.

mezze madness

It all started with some leftover steamed sweet potato and a bit of pesto, but boy did it snowball.

Last summer we went to a friend’s place for lovely early-evening mezze before I headed off to the States. All the dishes were lovely, but the roast sweet potato with pesto was particularly memorable.

With tabbouleh on the brain and sweet potato and pesto in the fridge, I figured, eh, why not have a mezze night? Every time we head to our favourite Turkish restaurant around the corner from us in Hackney, I dive into their divine mezze plate. Why not try my own version, with is soaked with demonstrably less unidentifiable red oil?

It was actually very easy and required minimal cooking. We ate spread out on a blanket on the living room floor, like a little picnic. Cue the ‘awwww’s…

sweet potato with pesto

leftover steamed sweet potato, with two tablespoon of pesto mixed in. Though it could be roasted should you prefer. Serve cold.

roasted aubergine

oh so simple. Preheat the oven to 200 C and roast two aubergines, sliced in half lengthwise, with a few sprays of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. When done, scrape the aubergine out from its skin and serve in a bowl.

tabbouleh

you know the drill

courgette, dill and yogurt

a bit like tzatziki. Add the courgettes and dill to a food processor and finely chop. Mix in three spoonfuls of fat-free natural yogurt and season well.

carrot, radish and thyme

a little one I made up. Very earthy, and a refreshing break from the other, more classic flavours. Chuck one large carrot (or two

olives and feta

hh, do I need to explain?

stuffed vine leaves

no, I didn’t make them – but only £1.95 for eight of these bad boys – you gotta love them.

harissa

This lovely chilli garlic “relish” goes with absolutely everything. But beware – it’s very hot (though worth it).

All served with warm tortillas. To die for. My favourite? I couldn’t possibly pick… they’re like children to me now…