Kaoutar
The Mediterranean diet is considered part of a healthy lifestyle, combined with regular physical exercise.
Each of the countries bathed by the Mediterranean has its own recipes, although something common to all of them is the use of olive oil as an essential element in dressings and stews. Seasonal vegetables and fruits, legumes and fish are other common elements.
In recent years, when traveling has ceased to be the privilege of a few, the different countries have been exchanging our recipes and, what was previously totally unknown to us, has become part of our usual cuisine.
These four delicious and healthy appetizers are a sample of it:
TZATZIKI
Tzatziki is a typical cream from Greece and Turkey, very easy to make and with few ingredients.
Ingredients :
Yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice.
To give a bit of contrast to its somewhat acidic taste, mint is usually added.
It can be made with different textures: thick to be eaten with pita bread triangles; something more creamy to dip in raw or almost liquid vegetable sticks to use as a sauce and to dress a salad, fish or meat.
That is why the quantities are not as important as the way of preparing it:
The cucumber has a lot of water, so you have to peel it, cut in two to remove the seeds and grate it. Next we will put it in a strainer with salt to remove the water.
The amount of yogurt will depend on how much we want to prepare. The garlic, as it has such a strong flavor, we will put it according to our taste and the lemon juice depending on the acidity that we want to add.
An indicative proportion can be: four yogurts, half a cucumber, two cloves of garlic, the juice of a lemon and two tablespoons of olive oil.
Crush the garlic with a drizzle of olive oil and add the well-drained grated cucumber. Add the lemon juice and mix everything well. We add this mixture to the yogurt, stirring until creating a cream. Finally, we sprinkle fresh mint on top.
Check out our recipe from here
BABA GANOUSH
Or, what is the same, aubergine cream.
This tasty cream is a typical dish of the Mediterranean countries, originally from the Middle East and which spread to North Africa.
Its main ingredient, eggplant, mixed with sesame and lemon, gives it a unique, smooth flavor with an exotic touch.
To start preparing this delicacy, we heat the oven to 180º. We wash the aubergine well and dry it. Remove the leaves, leaving the tail and, with a fork, pierce the entire eggplant several times.
We put it in the oven until the skin is wrinkled and soft (about 45 minutes). We let it cool and meanwhile, we crush one or two cloves of garlic, mixing it with the juice of a lemon and salt.
We cut the eggplant in two and carefully we are removing the pulp and placing it in a deep plate. We add a tablespoon of tahini and with the fork we crush and mix until forming a paste. The amount of tahini will depend on the texture we want to give it. Add the garlic with the lemon and mix everything.
Cover with olive oil and abundant chopped parsley.
In some countries they serve it with pomegranate seeds, and even add a little of its juice to the mix.
It is usually served with pita bread cut into triangles, or with vegetable sticks.
Check out our recipe from here
HUMMUS
Another typical dish of Arab cuisine, as simple to prepare as the previous ones. It is actually prepared the same as baba ganoush, but instead of eggplant, we use cooked chickpeas.
Tahini is already prepared in many places, but if we do not have it, we can prepare it by grinding toasted sesame seeds with some liquid, it can be olive or seed oil and salt.
Smash the chickpeas with a fork, add the tahini, the juice of a lemon, a clove of garlic and salt to form a paste. I prefer to do it with a blender, it is more velvety and, if necessary, you can add some of the chickpea broth so that it is not so thick.
When it’s ready, we put it in a deep dish, cover it with olive oil and sprinkle with red paprika.
Check out our recipe from here
PINZIMONIO
Pinzimonio is a very popular aperitif in Italy.
It consists of a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper in which different raw vegetables cut into sticks are spread. Lemon or vinegar can also be added to the sauce, in this case, we will have to shake well with a fork to achieve an emulsion.
We can choose the vegetables that we like the most: carrots, red, green or yellow peppers, celery, fennel, radishes.
It is a fresh, light and very healthy aperitif that, thanks to its color, allows us to present it in many elegant and sophisticated ways. We can put all the vegetables in a bowl and give each diner a glass with the sauce or we can put the vegetables in glass glasses mixing the colors and decorating with endive leaves or red chicory
These vegetable sticks are also perfect for spreading on tzatziki, hummus, and baba ganoush. We can put the three creams, the sauce, and a good assortment of vegetables and we will have a tasty and varied appetizer. The chives are ideal to spread on the hummus, the cucumber sticks for the tzatziki, and the carrot for the baba ganoush, the pinzimonio goes wonderfully with any vegetable.
Check out our recipe from here
