If you’re having friends over for drinks and snacks and wanted to offer something that might also being filling enough to act as dinner should the gathering carry on, get out a platter and fill it with meze.
Meze, also spelled mezze, are small plates, bowls and bites of food served in some Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries as appetizers. They are appetizers, similar to Italian antipasto and Spanish tapas, that will go great with wine and other beverages. And, as noted, if you serve enough meze together you should have enough food to call it dinner.
Many things can be served as meze, and some of them you can buy ready to eat at grocery stores and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food stores in greater Victoria, such as Fig Mediterranean Deli, 1551 Cedar Hill Cross Rd., and Damascus Food Market, 1395 Hillside Ave. You can also, of course, make some meze yourself and serve it with the items you bought.
Below is a list of things you can buy or make, followed by recipes for some of the latter. Choose those that appeal, determine how much of each item you’ll need based on how many folks you’ll be serving, arrange them on a platter as shown in the photo and start snacking.
Items you could include on a meze platter
• Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves)
• Jarred, marinated artichoke hearts
• Grilled vegetables, such as bell peppers, zucchini and eggplant, and/or raw vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes and sticks of cucumber and bell peppers.
• Whole almonds
• Tinned albacore tuna, drained, set on a plate and drizzled and sprinkled with olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper
• Mixed marinated olives
• Fried or grilled halloumi cheese
• Cubed feta cheese, plain or marinated
• Dried and/or fresh fruits, such as dates, dried apricots, fresh figs and wedges of fresh stone fruit, such as plums, peaches or nectarines
• Small skewers of chicken or lamb
• Cured sliced meats and sausages
• Wedges of warm pita bread
• Hummus
• Cannellini Bean Spread (see recipe below)
• Tzatziki (see recipe below)
• Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Olive Oil and Garlic (see recipe below)
Cannellini Bean Spread with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Feta and Mint
Serve this flavourful spread with wedges of pita bread, for spooning it on.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 2 cups
1 (14 oz./398 mL) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed in cold water and drained well
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained well
2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
100 grams feta cheese, crumbled
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• a mint sprig and crumbled feta, for garnish
Place beans, 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, mint, oregano, cumin, cayenne and 100 grams crumbled feta cheese in a food processor. Pulse ingredients until well combined. Taste and season this spread with salt and pepper. Transfer the spread to a decorative bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Spread can be made many hours before needed.
When ready to serve, uncover and drizzle the top of the spread with a little olive oil. Garnish the spread with a bit crumbled feta cheese and a mint sprig, and serve.
Tzatziki
The classic, tangy, Greek-style yogurt-based dip you can dunk raw vegetables into, serve with pita, or spoon on plates and enjoy with the other meze you are having, such as dolmades.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 1 3/4 cups
1/2 medium English cucumber
1 1/4 cups thick, Greek-style yogurt
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, or to taste
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
• salt and white pepper to taste
• extra virgin olive oil
Set a fine sieve over a bowl. Coarsely grate cucumber into the sieve. Firmly press on the cucumber and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Discard the liquid. Put the drained cucumber in the bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except olive oil, and mix to combine. Transfer tzatziki to a decorative bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed. It can be made several hours in advance. Drizzle top of tzatziki with a little olive oil just before serving.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Olive Oil and Garlic
In-season cherry tomatoes roasted with olive oil and thinly sliced garlic you can mound on wedges of pita bread.
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 24 tomatoes
24 cherry tomatoes
1 large garlic clove, halved and very thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prick each cherry tomato once with the tip of a paring knife and set in a single layer in a baking dish. Set the garlic around the tomatoes. Drizzle tomatoes and garlic with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes 20 minutes, or until very tender. Serve tomatoes warm or room temperature.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday
