Weekday Mediterranean Delight Dinner

Try this menu to welcome the week. It's extremely quick, low prep and elegant dinner menu for two. Enjoy this meal with glass of red wine with some nice guitar in the background or with a spicy conversation with friends after a hectic day at work!

Here I have clockwise:
Homemade Grilled Chapati(Save time by using grilled store-bought Pita bread)
Moroccan Chickpea Mash
Grilled Aubergine Salad with feta-cheese and yogurt dressing

Moroccan Chickpea Mash

You can serve this as a main course, as a side, as a topping on your bread or filling in your sandwich! This is an absolutely versatile dish to have up your sleeve when you want something quick that involves 'no cooking'!!

Ingredients:
A can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
Salt
Pepper
Sumac
Coriander Powder
Roasted Cumin Powder
Red Chilly Powder
Roasted Sesame Oil
One lime juice
Chopped Parsley
Chopped Spring Onion

Method:
1. Drain and wash the chickpeas. Mash half the chickpeas in a bowl.
2. Mix the mashed chickpeas with some salt, pepper, sumac, red chilly powder, roasted cumin powder, coriander powder, lime juice, roasted sesame oil, chopped parsley and chopped spring onion.

No cook main course is ready to be served with warm pita or rice pilaf!

Grilled Aubergine Salad with Feta cheese and Yogurt dressing

This is a fantastic side or a small meal by itself for one. If you don't like aubergines, you will start liking it after you try this recipe!

Ingredients:
One large aubergine
Feta cheese
Yogurt
Salt
Pepper
Sumac
Parsley
Spring Onion
Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Cut aubergine into about 1/2" thick slices.
Note: If you cut it too thin then it will not maintain it's shape on the grill.

2. Brush one side of aubergine slices and put them face down on a hot grill pan. Cook on one side for about 4 minutes.

3. Brush the other side with oil and turn the slices. Cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the aubergines are cooked through.

4. In a bowl, mix the feta cheese, yogurt, some water, pepper, sumac, chopped parsley and chopped spring onions. Add salt only if needed since feta itself is pretty salty.

5. In a platter, arrange the grilled aubergines in a layer and drizzle with some yogurt dressing.

This dish can be enjoyed at room temperature as well!

Spinach-n-Mushroom pasta bake

Looking for a quick and easy way to entertain... Or just want to pamper yourself for a classy Italian meal on a weeknight... Either way, this recipe is definitely worth a try! :)

Ingredients:
Handful of spinach
Button mushrooms - quartered or chopped in thick slices
Pasta
Parmesan cheese - grated
Mozzarella cheese - grated
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Minced garlic
Some dried Oregano
Some dried Thyme
~1/2 tbsp Butter
Olive oil
Some flour
Some Vegetable/mushroom stock

Method:
1. While the pasta water is kept to boil on one stove burner; heat olive oil with salt, pepper, red chilly flakes, oregano, thyme and  minced garlic in a deep saucepan on another burner.
2. Once everything starts to sizzle, add the mushrooms. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Let the mushrooms ooze their juices in to make the sauce.
3. After about another 2-3 minutes, remove the cooked mushrooms along with their juices in a bowl.
Note: At this point, put the pasta in the boiling water to start cooking.
4. In the same saucepan, add some butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted, add some flour and cook well to make a roux.
5. Add some stock to this and let it thicken. Add mushroom and it's juices to the sauce.
6. Add some roughly chopped spinach leaves to the mixture along with the drained pasta.
7. Empty this pasta mixture in a baking dish.
8. You can sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese on top OR you can skip the cheeses as well.
9. Bake this for 7-10 minutes at 400F/205C oven.

Serve hot!!

Spinach will cook in the heat of the sauce and later in the oven. That way it retains it's green color and has a bite to it.

You can substitute spinach leaves with any other sturdy greens such as arugula, water cress or chard leaves. 

Greek food revisited

My first encounter with authentic Greek food was four years back in Greece. There was an unusual sense of thrill and excitement in exploring the small cobbled alleyways and boutique shops of Santorini as it resonated with the excitement of starting a new chapter in my life! It was here that we found the perfect tzatziki to whet our appetite and a hearty moussaka to fill our stomach and satiate our senses.

In today's party, I tried to recreate the same recipes and finish it with, Zabaglione, a dessert that probably took most of my 'cooking' time in the kitchen! But it's definitely worth a try and considerably easy if you have a hand blender ;)


Menu Idea:
Here is the menu detail for your greek party:
1. Salad: This is my interpretation of a simple and quick greek salad that's elegant to serve.
2. Appetizer: Tzatziki and toasted pita bread - yet another super quick and delicious meal in itself.
3. Main course: Moussaka - this is a lighter version of the dish made with ground chicken instead.
4. Dessert: Zabaglione - eggs, sugar and cream - ingredients for a perfect dessert :)

Time: 2hr 30min, from opening the fridge to take out ingredients to cleaning the last inch of the countertop(utensils washing time included).

 

For serving the Greek salad, I used endive leaves as my base. I chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumber, olives and feta cheese and dressed them with little lemon juice and olive oil. The sourness in lemon works well with the bitterness of the leaves.

Table Setting:
For a cute Greek table setting I used simple white and blue place mats as everything on the Greek Islands is white and blue, including their flag!!

For the center piece I recycled an old can, dressed it up with some twine and used living thyme to spice up the entire atmosphere on the table.

I wrapped some blue tissue paper around yogurt cups and places tea lamps for a cozy effect and randomly arranged lemons next to the lamps.

Using decorations of herbs and spices that you have used in the food are a great way to start interesting conversations.

Elegant Moroccan Dinner Party

Here is an elegant, easy and quick way to pull together a delightful Moroccan dinner party!
This is so easy that you can even entertain on a weekday after those long hours of work...

Menu ideas:
1. Start with the <Fattoush> salad.
2. Serve hot <chicken tagine> with warm Lavash or pita bread.
3. Have a <mixed rice pilaf> for rounding up.
4. For a sweet tooth - just get nice Toasted Almond gelato and you're all set!!