Channeling my wonderful visit to Greece a few years ago with this homemade mezze platter! The true arabic meaning of mezze is sharing, which really comes across with this stunning board - giving everyone something delicious to enjoy, especially when keeping hummus, tabbouleh, tzatziki and marinated feta as the main focus.
To build this easy appetizer board, I wanted to kick it up a notch and make all the platter elements, however, you can also visit your local grocery store to pick up these items if you don't want to cook them! I personally love going the extra mile but if you're in a rush, it's great to have everything already made. The beauty about this is you can actually create the hummus, tzatziki, tabbouleh and feta a few days before.
Here's what you'll need to replicate for friends and family at home. There are so many fresh ingredients you can use, so you really can't go wrong when creating the board!
The perfect mezze platter foods:
- Hummus (used this recipe on Epicurious)
- Tabbouleh
- Tzatziki
- Marinated feta cheese
- Grilled artichokes
- Radishes
- Cucumbers
- Tomatoes
- Pita bread
- Olives
- Pepperoncici
Homemade tzatziki
One night while we were enjoying lamb burgers, my mom whipped up tzatziki but using sour cream instead of Greek yogurt...and it was such a pleasant surprise! Considering we don't have an exact recipe, you'll need:
- About a cup of sour cream
- Several sprigs of chopped dill
- One small minced cucumbers
- Half a tsp of chopped garlic
- 1tsp of lemon juice
Marinated feta
For an infused flavor, we marinated the feta with:
- Olive oil, enough to cover the feta
- 4-5 red pepper flakes
- Cracked pepper
- One chopped shallot
- Minced clove of garlic
- Dried oregano
The key to making this is using oregano from Greece! George's family is so sweet and always brings us incredible ingredients from their village, such as salts to honey and dried oregano. The smell is absolutely incredible and it really enhances the flavor for a rich taste that captures the essence of Greece.
Artfully assembling the mezze platter
Not everything needs to be perfectly organized when putting together the board. Start by organizing the dips in little bowls that complement each other. You want them spread out across the board and not too close together so there's room for the other bites to breathe.
From there, cut your pita into triangles and weave them in between the bowls considering it's one of the main vessels for enjoying the dips. Also keep in mind balancing out the colors with radishes and tomatoes, making sure they are across from each other, then adding in the cucumbers, pepperoncici, artichokes and olives.