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How to make an easy greek mezze platter!

How to make an easy greek mezze platter! #mezzeplatter #mezze #howtomakemezze

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Ok, yes. It’s true. I have a slight obsession with all things snack board. First how to make an easy cheese board, now how to make an easy greek mezze board!

The process, the presentation, the SNACKS!

Authentic to traditional meze platters? No.

None of the “ethnic” dishes on this site are really that. They are usually inspired by authentic recipes and experiences, but are rarely authentic in execution.

Easy Bibimbap? Not authentic, but still SOOOO good and much less intimidating than the real deal.

Slow Cooker Paella? Definitely not stuffed with fresh-from-the-sea seafood, and made in a traditional paella pan. I lovingly refer to it as paella for real people.

Healthy Salmon Tacos? If I see salmon tacos on a menu on my next (hopefully soon?) trip to Mexico, I’ll let you know. (And be slightly weirded out.)

Have you sensed a theme? I’m inspired by the amazing flavors and creations but the reality is that most of the time, I don’t have access to the ingredients, tools, and sometimes the knowledge to truly give these meals the justice they deserve. So I’ll stick to authentically inspired.

And this mezze, or really, meze platter, is exactly that. When I looked up greek mezze platters, I learned that traditional mezze is:

“…a selection of small dishes served to accompany alcoholic is a selection of small dishes served to accompany alcoholic drinks in the Near East, the Balkans, and parts of Central Asia.”

So all this is to say, that while this greek mezze platter is certainly inspired by traditional mezze platters, it’s also made with everyday ingredients that don’t require a trip to the greek or mediterranean markets.

How to make an easy greek mezze platter! #mezzeplatter #mezze #howtomakemezze

So how do we make it? We need to gather our ingredients:

high-quality hummus (any flavor will work!)
tapenade or fresh olives
labneh or plain greek yogurt drizzled with olive oil and topped with salt and pepper
dippers: carrots, cucumbers, pita chips
salami salad roll-ups (simply roll up lightly dressed salad greens into a piece of salami and serve immediately so lettuce doesn’t get soggy)
nuts for filling up the empty spots

Here’s a short video to show you just how I arrange everything on my board:

VIDEO

And if you’re in Southern California (LA and OC) you don’t even need to leave the house. Get everything you need delivered right to your door from Milk & Eggs.

How to make an easy greek mezze platter! #mezzeplatter #mezze #howtomakemezze

This is not your grandma's mushroom barley soup! Add soy sauce, balsamic, a mix of dried and fresh mushrooms, and spinach for a modern take on this classic recipe.

Photography Credit: Sheryl Julian

Barley is one of those grains that your grandmother probably always had in her pantry. And like many other treasures tucked away on those shelves, barley is chic now and a star ingredient on many trendy restaurant menus.

With this modernized recipe, we’re adding barley to a pot of vegetarian soup along with both dried and fresh mushrooms, and seasoning it with a surprising combination of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.

The bowls of soup have a satisfying saltiness and an alluring sweetness—it’s an entirely new take on traditional mushroom barley soup.

Mushrooms and barley are an old pairing, popular in dishes around the world wherever mushroom foragers lived. For centuries, Eastern European cooks made versions of this soup as soon as the weather got cold—a simmering pot was on the menu pretty much all winter.

I like to use a mix of dried and fresh mushrooms in my soup. Dried mushrooms, especially porcini, add a lot of intense flavor to the pot, while the fresh mushrooms are earthy but mild by comparison.

For the fresh mushrooms, I like to use a combination of button, shiitake and large or baby portobello mushrooms, chopping the large ones and slicing small ones so you get a variety of textures.

Use pearl barley for this recipe; “pearl” means that the grains have been partially processed to remove the hull and bran, then polished. It cooks faster. Hulled barley, as the name suggests, has been hulled, but the bran is intact, so it takes longer to cook.

Just a head’s up: the grain continues to expand as they sit in the broth, so if you cook the soup a day ahead and let it chill overnight (which is a good idea because the flavors mellow), you might need to add more water if the mixture seems too thick.

Mushroom Barley Soup I make this soup with plain water so I can build the seasonings myself. I stir in generous spoonfuls of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar—these ingredients, which add an aromatic, umami boost, weren’t available to Eastern European home cooks centuries ago, but why not take advantage of our modern pantries?!

With so many things going into the pot, this soup has lots of satisfying bits to nibble and enough heft to serve as a main course. This recipe makes a large batch, plenty for dinner tonight and meals in the days to come.

Not Your Grandma’s Mushroom Barley Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 ounce dried porcini or other dried mushrooms
2 cups hot tap water
1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms (button, shiitake, large or baby portobello, or a mix)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup pearl barley
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
8 cups water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 ounces baby spinach (2 cups packed), tough stems removed

Method

1 Soak the dried mushrooms: In a bowl, combine the porcini or other dried mushrooms and the 2 cups hot water. Set aside for 30 minutes to soak.

With a slotted spoon, lift the mushrooms out of the bowl and transfer to a cutting board. Coarsely chop them. Strain the soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a paper towel to catch any grit and reserve.

soaking mushrooms for Mushroom Barley Soup

2 Prep the fresh mushrooms: Whip any dirt from the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Remove the stems from all except the button mushrooms. Coarsely chop the large mushrooms and thinly slice the small mushrooms. Set aside.

mushrooms for Mushroom Barley Soup

3 Cook the vegetables: In a large stock pot over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Add the mushrooms, stir well, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes. Add the potato and barley and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.

Ingredients for Mushroom Barley Soup recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup

4 Add the liquids: Stir in the reserved mushroom soaking liquid, water, soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaf, half the parsley, and half the dill.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Partially cover and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the barley and potatoes are both tender. If the mixture seems too thick at any point, add more water, 1/2 cup at a time.

Vegan Mushroom Barley Soup

5 Finish the soup: Add the spinach and stir well. Cover the pot and let the spinach wilt for 2 minutes. Stir the soup and taste for seasoning. Add more salt, soy sauce, or balsamic vinegar, if you like. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and dill. Ladle into bowls.

Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup

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Sheryl Julian

Sheryl Julian is an award-winning writer, editor, and food stylist. She is the former food editor of The Boston Globe, co-author of The Way We Cook, and editor of The New Boston Globe Cookbook. Her food sections won Best Newspaper Food Coverage from the Association of Food Journalists in 2015.