Avocado Tzatziki and Mezedes

Μετάφραση της συνταγής στο τέλος

Mezes plural mezedes are the small plates of food served with wine, ouzo, zivania, tsikoudia in Greece, since it is customary to eat something while you drink.  In my cookbook I have a chapter with lots of mezedes but here are some meze dishes I made recently.

Snails, called saliggaria (σαλιγκάρια), chochlii or kohlii (Χ(κ)οχλιοί) in Crete,  karaoloi (καράολοι) in Cyprus belong to the class of gastropoda.

Some people may be grossed by the idea of eating snails but snails are mollusks, which are a group of animals that have a hard shell and are similar to clams or oysters, which I am sure a lot of you have tried and liked.  Snails should not be confused with slugs as they are not the same animal, although both are gastropods.  Read more about snails as well as Snails in Tomato Sauce with Feta here.

Lagana is a delicious Greek flatbread, the predecessor of focaccia, which is usually baked  on the first day of Lent of the Orthodox Easter.   You can find the recipe of Lagana with sun-dried tomatoes and garlicky olives here.

Hoummous is part of Cypriot mezedes and the classic recipe is included in my cookbook.  My twist to the classic recipe is adding roasted butternut squash and garlicky olives.  You can find the recipe here.

I prepared these delicacies with products sent to me by GreekFoodShop.  A lot of Greek/Cypriot products are not sold abroad so now yo can order these products online and make your own mezedes.

I wanted to try the extra virgin olive oil raw in other mezedes and have experimented with a few recipes.   A good quality extra virgin olive oil makes a  huge difference when used raw as you can really enjoy its fruity taste.

Avocado Tzatziki, recipe by Ivy

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice and some zest

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

A dash of freshly grated black pepper

200 ml Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

50 grams feta cheese

Directions:

Scoop the avocadoes into a food processor.  Add the olive oil, yoghurt, feta, coriander, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper, juice of lime or lemon and zest and mix until creamy.

Taste and adjust.

Τζατζίκι από Αβοκάντο, συνταγή της Ήβης

Υλικά:

1 γινωμένο αβοκάντο

1 σκελίδα σκόρδο

2 κουταλιές έξτρα παρθένο ελαιόλαδο

2 κουταλιές κόλιανδρο, ψιλοκομμένο

2 κουταλιές φρέσκο μοσχολέμονο ή χυμό λεμονιού και το ξύσμα του

1/2 κουταλάκι χοντρό αλάτι

Φρεσκοτριμμένο μαύρο πιπέρι

200 ml γιαούρτι στραγγιστό

1 κουταλιά της σούπας μουστάρδα Dijon

50 γραμμάρια φέτα

Εκτέλεση:

Με ένα κουτάλι βγάζουμε το αβοκάντο στο μούλτι.  Προσθέτουμε το ελαιόλαδο, το γιαούρτι, τη φέτα, τον κόλιανδρο, τη μουστάρδα, το σκόρδο, αλάτι και πιπέρι, το χυμό μοσχολέμονου ή λεμονιού και το ξύσμα και ανακατεύουμε μέχρι να γίνει μια κρέμα.

Δοκιμάζουμε και προσαρμόζουμε.

Καλή Όρεξη!

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,