Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Meze Supper.

Tonight husband and I wanted to dine on an assortment of appetizers or "meze". I was happy to make a dip of chickpeas and fava beans (not quite hummus because I only had about 1/2 cup of chickpeas), za'atar in olive oil with fresh tomato and onion as well as a light eggplant dish, Misaqua'at Betinjan bil Laban or 'Browned Eggplant with Yogurt'. I used plain unsweetened soy yogurt* and added about a tablespoon of vegan mayo for more creaminess. Try as they might, soy yogurts just do not have the same texture nor flavor as regular dairy yogurt. The vegan mayo added to it made it much creamier and it was simply flavored with salt, garlic, cumin and coriander. This recipe is from a Iraqi cookbook I have called "Delights from the Garden of Eden". The recipe is also online here. The eggplant was really good (well, anything that is fried is good!) and the salty olives and pita were yummy accompaniments.


Chickpea & Fava Bean Dip with Za'atar topped with fresh tomato and onions.


Yummy fried eggplants with garlicky soy yogurt!


All together...

*Note: The best plain unsweetened soy yogurt is Wildwood Organics. The other brands plain are just way too sweet.

10 comments:

cassidy said...

oooooh! looks like the meal turned out beautifully! please let's have a dinner together with something amazing like this! :)

vegan.in.brighton said...

That all looks gorgeous, I love fried eggplant!

kmouse said...

cassidy,
of course we shall!

veganinbrighton,
yes it was wonderful! I don't eat many fried things but this was worth it.

Mama Veg said...

I was wondering what to do with that eggplant in the fridge. Everything looks wonderful.

LKSisters said...

Looks delicious - I love greek/middle eastern food like chickpeas, zaatar, and eggplant.

Anonymous said...

Great idea! Love eggplant, just picked up some yesterday. Will have to try this with my own twist!

mppaul2

Anonymous said...

I meant to ask, what is za'atar?

mppaul2

kmouse said...

mppaul2,
za'atar is a middle eastern spice blend of thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and salt
I use a ready blend by Sadaf.
http://sadaf.com/store/product26.html

kmouse said...

I meant "herb" blend!

Eco Mama said...

OMG the eggplant...