This is a sure fire winner by my wife. This salad goes very well with just about any Mediterranean dish and is particularly good with grilled fish or lamb.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 marinated roast capsicum (red bell pepper) chopped into 1cm (1/2 inch) squares
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small Spanish (red) onion, diced
2x400gr (14oz) cans of chickpeas
1/2 cup Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped
2 lemons juiced
1/3 cup of virgin olive oil.

Combine ingredients in a bowl and serve.

If you want to use a fresh red capsicum, cut it in half, take out the seeds and place both halves, skin side up, under a hot grill. Grill until the skin begins to go black and starts to smoke and burn. When skins are mostly black and blistered, place the capsicum in a plastic bag and tie the bag closed and allow it to sit in the unopened bag for about 10 to 20 minutes, to sweat. Take the capsicum out of the plastic bag and peel the skin off. The skin should just lift off quite easily.

This is a quick and easy recipe that is always popular with my dinner guests.

Ingredients

1 small jar (170gr or 6oz) of marinated artichokes, drained
1 400gr (14oz) can of cannellini beans, drained
1/2 of a cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon (or more to suit taste) fresh basil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

Method

Puree all ingredients in a food processor.

Serve with either crackers or pide (Turkish bread)

This is a very quick easy dip that is always a hitiat any diner party I hold. This recipe is my own and I’ve strayed quite far from traditional baba ghanoush.

Ingredients

1 300gr jar of grilled eggplants (I use the brand “Always Fresh” here in Australia)

1/2 a cup of yoghurt (I use a Greek style one with S. Thermophillus and L. Bulgaricus cultures)

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1 tablespoon of tahini (be careful to not put too much in as it can over power the whole dip)

1/2 a cup of almond meal (this isn’t essential but it helps soak up the moisture of the yoghurt and gives the dip body)

Juice of one lemon (start of with half the juice and then add more to suit your taste)

Pinch of pimenton (smoked paprika). It’s not essential but the smoky flavour and colour do add a nice touch.

Method

Drain the grilled eggplant (if you like lots of oil, pour some of the oil on the dip when it’s complete). Place all the ingredients with the exception of the pimenton in a food processor and puree. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the pimenton.

Serve with fresh hot pide (Turkish bread). If you can’t get the Turkish bread, barbeque rice crackers or sesame water crackers go well with the dip.

Easy!

If you’re a bit of a purist and want to use a fresh eggplant, here’s what you do. Prick an eggplant all over with a fork and stick it in a very hot oven for about 45 minutes until is starts to smoke and burn. The next step is to take it out of the oven and cut it in half. Scoop out the insides of the eggplant. At this point some people squeeze out the excess moisture. Then just follow the recipe above, substituting the fresh eggplant for the bottled eggplant.