Making a Mezze Meal

"Mezze" refers to small-plate dishes typical of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Because many of these types of dishes can be made ahead, mezze works well for entertaining. Throw together enough of them and you'll have a great meal, which is basically the concept behind José Andrés restaurant Zaytinya.

All this week I'm featuring recipes to make a great mezze meal, which also just happens to be vegetarian. That I didn't miss the meat is a sign of how satisfying a varied dinner made of these dishes can be.

Smoky-smooth hummus

Hummus is an essential mezze dish. I've already featured two recipes for it: a basic recipe and a more involved smoky-smooth version (the extra work is worth it, in my opinion).

This week, I'll have recipes for baba ghanoush, quinoa tabouleh and yogurt kuku, which is basically a frittata. Some other dishes that would well in a mezze dinner: chickpea patties, reconstructed hummus salad and Mediterranean salad.