Mezze Board

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Creating an appetizer board is our go-to vehicle for feeding mouths as they walk through our door. There is always a little something for everyone and for some reason having more appetizers feels less stressful than having one and hoping it’s a winner. We love Greek food and often make a dinner party menu featuring this type of cuisine. Keeping that in mind, we set out to make a board of Greek appetizers (mezze) that mostly stays away from our traditional meat and cheese boards. If you feel like over-achieving you can make many of these items from scratch, but to save time we have purchased them from Trader Joe’s. Pro Tip: whenever we purchase a pre-made dip from the grocery store, we always give it a little TLC before serving. For this board we used Trader Joe’s labneh and hummus; we transferred each into smaller bowls and drizzled olive oil and red chili flakes on the labneh and olive oil and everything spice on the hummus. It’s a small touch that makes the board look better and less like you just got home from the grocery store. 

Mezze Board 
Makes: 8 servings 
Prep Time: 25 minutes    Total Time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 container small tomatoes on the vine 
  • 1 English cucumber, sliced on a bias
  • 1 block (6-8 oz) feta cheese, cut into bite-sized cubes
  • 1 container dolmas 
  • 1 jar of grilled, marinated artichoke hearts, drained 
  • 1 jar Greek olives, drained 
  • 1 bag of Trader Joe’s Olive & Herbs Mixed Nuts, or similar 
  • 1 package pita, cut into small wedges 
  • 1 container hummus
  • 1 container labneh 
  • 1/4 cup olive oil 
  • red pepper flakes 
  • Everything Bagel Spice 

Directions: 

  1. Prep the ingredients that need a little TLC. Slice the cucumber into thick slices on a bias. Cut the feta into large chunks. Drain the dolmas, artichoke hearts, and olives. Cut the pita into wedges. 
  2. Transfer the hummus and labneh (or any other dips) into small ramekins or bowls that will fit on your board. Top each dip with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on the labneh and Everything Bagel Spice on the hummus. 
  3. Arrange the platter. Start by putting the two ramekins of dips onto the platter. From there, layer each of the ingredients in at least two places on a large board. We try and mix and match the ingredients but also make sure that dry ingredients like the pita or mixed nuts stay dry by being placed near a ramekin. Once the board is full and assembled, serve immediately. 

Lamb Kofta Meatballs

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We have been making variations of this Lamb Kofta recipe for years now- it’s one of our go-to recipes for entertaining. Although we aren’t doing much entertaining these days, we found ourselves missing all of these flavors and made a trip to Arash, our local Middle Eastern grocery store. In just about 45 minutes we made this entire Middle East Feast for our little quarantine family! There is nothing better than homemade tzatziki and a fresh cucumber tomato salad to pair with rich, lamb meatballs. We love this kofta recipe because the fresh herbs, hint of jalapeno, and loads of spices brighten up the rich lamb for a dinner we can eat all year round. 

Lamb Kofta Meatballs 
Makes: 6 servings 
Prep Time: 15 minutes    Total Time: 35 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 2 lbs ground lamb (can use a mix of ground lamb and beef)
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds and stems removed
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup parsley 
  • 1/2 cup mint 
  • 1/3 cup walnuts 
  • 2 tsp coriander 
  • 1 tsp cardamom 
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 2 tbs olive oil 
  • salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
  2. Use a small blender to chop the jalapeno, garlic, parsley, mint, and walnuts. The consistency should be chopped but not paste-like. Put those ingredients in a large mixing bowl with the coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and olive oil. Whisk together.
  3. Add the lamb to the mixing bowl. Get your hands dirty and mix everything well to combine. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. 
  4. Form meatballs with the lamb mix that are roughly the size of large golf balls. Place them into rows on a large cookie sheet. 
  5. Bake the meatballs for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with hummus, pita, tzaziki, and cucumber tomato salad. 

Homemade Tzatziki

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Tzatziki is an essential component to any Greek or Middle Eastern menu; you can serve it as an appetizer with pita and sliced vegetables or as a condiment with your entree. It’s cool temperature and flavors help balance out the spicier flavors of Middle Eastern cuisine, like our Lamb Kofta recipe coming tomorrow. You can buy a pre-made version of this in any grocery store, but we prefer to make it ourselves because it takes just a few minutes to make and we can really control the flavors this way. Tate’s mom likes it with extra garlic and Tuck’s mom prefers it with extra lemon zest. 

Homemade Tzatziki 
Makes: 2 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes     Total Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cucumber, diced or grated 
  • 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt 
  • 1/3 cup fresh dill, packed and minced 
  • zest of 1 lemon 
  • juice of 1/2 lemon 
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced 
  • 2 tbs olive oil, separated 
  • salt and pepper to taste 

Directions 

  1. The consistency of the tzatziki is up to you. We prefer a chunkier version and dice the cucumbers; if you prefer a smoother version grate the cucumbers into a medium sized bowl. 
  2. Add the yogurt, dill, zest and juice of the lemon, garlic, and 1 tbs olive oil to the cucumber mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
  3. Serve the tzatziki chilled to room temperature with a drizzle of olive oil over the top. Serve with crudite or pitas. 

Loaded Greek Sweet Potato Fries

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If you are reading the title of this post and are a little confused, hang with us, you are going to LOVE this recipe! We love Greek food and wanted to create a version of all of our favorite flavors meshed into one dish. Even though this recipe is for french fries, it is incredibly healthy. Can we just call it a salad because it’s topped with vegetables? Yes, definitely. Right? This is a recipe for Greek salad that just happens to be served on top of crispy hot sweet potatoes instead of lettuce. We like it as an appetizer or a dinner side dish of grilled chicken kabobs, but respect you if you just dig in with a fork and call it dinner.

Loaded Greek Sweet Potato Fries

Makes: 4 servings as an appetizer or side dish

Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 large sweet potatoes, washed well and patted dry
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 3/4 cup tzaziki sauce
  • 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, dried with a paper towel and diced
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
  • 1/2 cup cucumber, diced
  • 1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved (not pictured because quarantine)
  • 1/3 cup red onion, diced
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cut the sweet potatoes into fry-sized sticks. Lay the sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and give everything a good toss to coat. Lay the sweet potatoes in a single layer and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are crispy on the outside and cooked through the center.
  3. When the potatoes have finished cooking, remove them from the cookie sheet and onto a serving platter. Top with the tzaziki in little plops around the fries, followed by the red peppers, feta, cucumber, olives and red onion. Serve immediately.

Avgolemono

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This soup has been a staple in our homes for quite some time. We love this Greek lemon soup because it is simple to make, has a ton of flavor, and has become a comfort food for us, especially in the winter. We like to serve this as a starter or alongside pitas and Greek salad. If you are looking to serve it as an entree, this recipe can feed 2-3 large sized portions.

The creaminess of the soup comes from tempering eggs into the broth. The technique of tempering is to dilute the eggs with warm broth, gradually raising the temperature, so that the eggs integrate with the broth and don’t curdle. If you still aren’t sure what we mean, the result of incorrectly tempering is egg drop soup. Fun fact – this technique took us a little bit of time to master. We have had many a night where our Avgo soup has floating egg whites and we still love it anyway! We will walk you through it in detail below but don’t be afraid if you don’t nail it on your first try. A little cooked egg never hurt anyone. 

Avgolemono Soup
Makes: 4 servings 
Total Time: minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound orzo 
  • 8 cups water + 3 bouillon cubes (we used Bou)*
  • 3 lemons, juiced 
  • 2 eggs
  • dill 
  • salt and pepper to taste 

*Bou’s serving size is 1 cube per 2 cups of water. We like to add about 1/4 less bouillon than  suggested so that the soup isn’t over salted and season with salt and pepper at the end. 

Directions: 

  1. In a small pot, cook the orzo per the package instructions, al dente. We like to cook the orzo outside of the soup so that the orzo does not over cook if we don’t serve the soup right away. 
  2. While the orzo is cooking, put the water and bouillon in a large soup bot and bring to a boil. Stir until the bouillon is completely dissolved in the water. Add the lemon juice and bring the soup to a simmer.
  3. Temper the eggs. Start by scrambling the eggs in a bowl. While continuing to stir the eggs, use a ladle to add a bit of the broth to the bowl. Keep stirring until the broth is combined and repeat the process once more (stir, add broth, stir). After the second edition of broth, you are going to repeat the process but incorporate the eggs into your soup pot. Stir the soup and gently pour in your egg mixture. Voila! You now have a rich, creamy broth.
  4. Serve by adding 1 cup of orzo to a bowl and topping with the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh dill. 

Lemon Chicken with Castelvetrano Olives & Artichoke Hearts

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There isn’t much to say about this recipe other than it’s delicious and great for a weeknight dinner. The chicken comes together in about 45 minutes and is packed with flavor. If you claim you are not an olive eater, we beg you to give Castelvetrano olives a chance. They are the bright green, avocado-looking olives in the olive bar at your grocery story. They are super buttery and don’t pack nearly the salty punch of their peers. Balanced out with fresh thyme and lemon, this is a dish that we will have on repeat all winter long.

Lemon Chicken with Castelvetrano Olives & Artichoke Hearts
Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 package (approx 1.3 lb) skin-on chicken thighs*
  • 2 tbs olive oil, separated
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 small yellow onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 4 springs fresh thyme
  • 1 lemon, sliced horizontally
  • 2/3 cup pitted castelvetrano olives, cut in half
  • 2/3 cup artichoke hearts, cut in half
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with paprika, salt and pepper.
  3. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Let the pan get nice and hot before adding 1 tbs olive oil. Add the chicken thighs and sear for three minutes on each side to get the skin nice and crispy and to help keep the chicken moist during the cooking process. Remove the chicken onto a plate.
  4. Reduce the flame on the pan to medium heat. Add the other 1 tbs olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, cooking until the onions are starting to caramelize- about 4 minutes. Add the white wine to the pan. Use a spatula to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
  5. Add the thyme, sliced lemon, olives, and artichokes to the pan. Give everything a good stir so that the flavors start to combine. From here, you have two options…. if the saute pan you have been cooking in is oven-safe, add the chicken thighs back into the pan and put in the oven. If your saute pan is not oven-safe, transfer everything to a baking dish and put in the oven. Regardless of which pan you bake in, make sure that you snuggle the chicken into the other ingredients. This helps the chicken absorb all of those great flavors you have built in the pan.
  6. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is an internal temperature of 165 degrees and cooked through.