In my opinion, all food is worth sharing. Meals are better when enjoyed with good company. That said - I love an antipasti, a meal of tapas, or a mezze platter any day of the week. You can please nearly every palate with the mix of offerings - or just get to have many yummy tastes instead of a singular one.
All takes on a similar concept, an antipasti, tapas or a mezze are a collection of smaller bites or plates that combines together to feed a crowd or can make a fantastic meal.
My boyfriend and I chose the latter - to have a quiet date night meal - and the mezze platter was the method. This plate had:
Green olives
Roasted garlic hummus
Country bread from Seven Stars - my personal favorite loaf
Spanish olive oil
Grilled zucchini, summer squash, and red pepper from my CSA with bourbon-smoked spice mix
a bottle of Pinot Noir
The beautiful aspect of a mezze is they are not time consuming, and can come together, depending on what you have on hand or pick up at the store, relatively quickly. I did choose to grill the veggies myself, so this was the only cooking to be done. To prepare the veggies, I sliced the zucchini and yellow summer squash to 1/4" slices using a mandoline, and I cut the red pepper into eighths. I brushed both sides of the veggies with olive oil and used a light sprinkling of the smoked spice mix. (If you use this mix, a little does go a long way). Heat the grill to medium heat and grill on each side about 4 minutes. This should just cook the veggies through, so they still have bit of structure to them.
We made the veggies, hummus and bread into open-faced sandwiches - and were content to enjoy the summer night with good food and the best of company in the backyard under the trees and stars with the glow of candles and stringed lights.
