Mediterranean night: Hummus, Tabbouleh, and Zucchini and Feta Balls

Seriously, I could eat Mediterranean food every night if I could get away with it. After trying a local Mediterranean restaurant in front of our school campus, my hubby decided that what and how I make at home was better than the restaurant's recipes. What a compliment, eh?

Instead of taking a lunch break today, I prepared our dinner. I was going to be away at a meeting and knew that I would NOT have any time to prepare dinner when I came back. These are the quickest meals and only require the most essential of kitchen appliances: your food processor! It cuts the cooking time by a lot and allows the freedom to refrigerate the goods.

After many taste testings, I believe that I have come up with the best hummus recipe for our family. I tastes very much like the many restaurants prepare them. The zucchini and feta balls, known in Greek as kolokithokeftedes, was a recipe I found on a cool blog, called Closet Cooking. Thanks to the author, I was able to have a warm dish to go with all the other salads. This is a perfect vegetarian meal!

Hummus

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serves 4

1 15-oz can chickpeas, reserve 1/4 cup of liquid
1 Tbsp Tahini butter (sesame seed butter)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
olive oil for drizzling

Place beans in processor and add chickpea liquid, lemon juice, and tahini. Process. Keep processor on and little by little add the olive oil until the mixture becomes smooth. it should not be grainy. Taste. This should not taste too lemony, or peanuty because of the tahini, but a blend of flavors. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Tabbouleh

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serves 3

Salad
1 cup cracked bulghur wheat
2 bunches parsley, chopped
1/2 cup mint, chopped
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, diced OR
4-6 radishes, diced

vinagrette
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt or to taste

Cover cracked wheat with a little more than 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Let sit for 10 minutes or until the water has been mostly absorbed. When the wheat is soft to touch, drain the excess water in a sieve.

Roughly chop parsley and mint in food processor. Place in a bowl and add onions, tomatoes, and
wheat. Add spices and then pour vinagrette over salad. Keeps for only a day.


Kolokythokeftedes (Zucchini and Feta Balls)

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adapted from Closet Cooking

makes 20 zucchini balls

2 cups zucchini, grated and squeezed
1/4 cup of feta, crumbled
1 splash ouzo (I omitted)
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 handful mint and dill, chopped
1 egg
1.5 tsp salt
pepper to taste
flour
breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
oil for frying (I used sesame oil)

Directions:
1. Mix the zucchini, feta, garlic, green onion, herbs and egg and season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix in equal parts flour and breadcrumbs until you can work with the mixture to form balls.
3. Form the mixture into balls and dust in flour.
4. Fry in oil until golden brown and set aside to cool.