All Greek to me.
A no-cook meal is always a good decision. Even better when you’re serving up a fresh, flavorful Greek Mediterranean mezze platter.
In addition to being a healthful and nourishing way to eat, Mediterranean food offers incredible, fresh flavors. Tomato and other vegetables, olives, fresh fish, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, and fresh cheese like mozzarella and feta are staples.
Building Your Greek Mediterranean Mezze Platter
This recipe — if you can call it a recipe — lists quantities and components like a normal recipe. But take these mostly as suggestions. Feel free to vary things up depending on what looks particularly fresh, in season, and Greek inspired. The components I recommend as a starting point:
- Fresh, high-quality Greek feta: a sheep’s milk cheese that’s tangy and briny. Do not buy pre-crumbled feta. You want fresh, creamy feta that you can cut into wedges.
- Homemade pita chips: fresh pitas are fine, but nothing beats a little crunch. Plus, pita chips hold the dips better. Here’s the recipe.
- Homemade creamy cucumber tzatziki: Tzatziki is a fresh, creamy dip made from yogurt, fresh herbs, cucumber, and a little lemon. Here’s the recipe.
- Fresh tomatoes, cucumber wedges, and some good olives. Fresh vegetables and olives are staples of Mediterranean and Greek cuisines. No cooking needed. Just chop and arrange.
Other options can include stuffed grape leaves, hummus, and spanikopita wedges.
How to Arrange Your Mezze Platter
There is a general method to any arranged food platter. A mezze platter is no exception. First, do not over-arrange the food. Over-arrangement, especially in a casual setting, can look a little fussy. Keep the elements together; don’t feel like you need to scatter everything or arrange things into designs.
Second, create anchors. After choosing your platter of choice — it can be round, oval, square, or rectangular — create an “anchor” area. I like to use small bowls of dips (tzatziki, hummus) for this. This anchor should not be at the center, which looks dated. This anchor could be a dips, a pile of pita chips, or something else with a little height and depth.
Finally, garnish. Always use garnishes that relate to the food itself. Here, I love big handfuls of fresh dill and mint. Both are Mediterranean, and ingredients in the tzatziki.
More Mediterranean goodness:
How to Arrange a Mediterranean Mezze Platter
Ingredients
- 1 batch homemade pita chips (recipe follows and linked above in text) or sliced fresh pita wedges
- 6 ounces Greek sheep's milk feta in brine, drained
- 6 ounces Greek pitted olives, drained
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup ripe grape tomatoes
- 8 ounces dolmas (stuffed grape leaves)
- 1 cup fresh tzatziki (recipe linked below and in text)
- 1 cup hummus
- 1 English hothouse cucumber, sliced into thick wedges on the diagonal
- fresh mint and dill sprigs, to garnish
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Make the tzatziki and pita chips, if using. (The tzatziki will be even better if you make it the day before.)
- Slice the drained feta into wedges and arrange on a large serving platter. Drizzle with olive oil and top with some fresh black pepper. Add the rest of the elements to the platter in sections, with the dips, spreads, and olives in small bowls. TIP: If you are serving olives with the pits, be sure to provide a small dish for the olive pits.
- Garnish with generous sprigs of mint and dill. Serve.
