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Mezes - harissa squid, courgette and lemon salad, cumin tzatziki, hummus and broad bean dip
posted Friday, 27 July 2007
I was feeling creative but damp on Sunday afternoon. The summer has been a washout so far and I was desparate to bring a little happiness into the dining room, so a table full of little plates of sunshine was required.
I won't give recipes for everthing here - the cumin tzatziki, for example, just substituted toasted cumin seeds for the usual mint. The squid was simply stir fried very quickly with a tablespoon of home-made harissa stirred in at the end. The flatbreads were taken directly from the Moro cookbook.
I was quite pleased with the way the broad bean dip and the courgette salad turned out, so the recipes are below.
The broad bean dip was based on Nigel Slater's Broad Bean Hummus but flavoured with herb fennel rather than dill (as I have fennel in the garden).
The courgette salad was my very first use of my home-grown courgettes - one lovely little tiddler - it felt a bit like watching your child take her first steps (something Maddie is still keen not to do!). The lemon verbena gave it a delicious fragrance.
Broad Bean Dip
(serves as many as you like - no quantities given!)
Broad Beans
Sea salt
Olive oil
Herb fennel
Squeeze of lemon
Broad Beans
Sea salt
Olive oil
Herb fennel
Squeeze of lemon
Cook the broad beans in boiling water until tender. I was using the very last of mine and there were a couple of little tiny pods which went in as well. Drain and refresh in cold water.
Throw them in a blender with a pinch of salt and enough oil to lubricate. Whizz. Add enough oil to give you a beautiful green paste. Stir in the chopped fennel and lemon to taste. Simple!
Throw them in a blender with a pinch of salt and enough oil to lubricate. Whizz. Add enough oil to give you a beautiful green paste. Stir in the chopped fennel and lemon to taste. Simple!
Courgette Salad
(serves 2 as part of a range of dishes)
1 shallot
Olive oil
1 small courgette
1 tablespoon pine nuts
Juice of half a lemon
Sprig of lemon verbena (or lemon balm), chopped
(serves 2 as part of a range of dishes)
1 shallot
Olive oil
1 small courgette
1 tablespoon pine nuts
Juice of half a lemon
Sprig of lemon verbena (or lemon balm), chopped
Slice the shallot thinly and soften in a pan with the olive oil. Slice the courgette very thinly and add to the shallot along with the pine nuts. Soften until everything is lovely and slippery. Squeeze in the lemon, season. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon verbena.
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