Mediterranean "Charcuterie" Board

This is one of our favorite meals. Often we eat it as gyros. Today I decided to try it in a new way. It was really fun to experience a favorite meal the way my children often do, with all the different elements separated. Finger food. Fun food. It was great.

When my four year old came to the table he said, "Wow. It looks like the sun." He was pretty excited about it. But more excited about telling about each part of the sun he was eating. As he ate peppers, he told me they were solar flares. As he ate olives, they were sun spots. The hummus and pita bread were the sun. Yes, my four year old is a freaking genius. He keeps me on my toes and is a delight. I love his curiosity.

He also calls falafel "bean cookies" and his only complaint is that "there are leaves" in the tabbouleh. He doesn't like "leaves" aka greens unless they are in a smoothie because they are hard for him to eat. I get it, I didn't like salad until I was an adult. I also didn't grow up eating a lot of vegetables.

The one year old loves this meal. Nothing is better to him than eating olives off his fingers. I wish my fingers weren't too big to still do that. He loves hummus, tomatoes, peppers, tabbouleh, and falafel. Basically, he will eat anything. I am so lucky.

My husband enjoyed this meal as a combo of finger food and creating a Mediterranean Salad by throwing everything over some lettuce. Any way you want to enjoy it is a great way because everything is so delicious.

This meal takes a little longer to prepare than most of my recipes because I make everything from scratch: pita bread, hummus, tabbouleh, and falafel. However, you can purchase almost any of those things at the store if you don't want to/don't have time to make it on your own.

Ingredients

1 can Olives, drained

1 Orange, Yellow, or Red Bell Pepper, sliced

Cherry Tomatoes

Pita Bread (Dough from Mama's Girls. Pita technique is mine)

1/2 c “warm” water (almost hot)

1 T Yeast

1 T Honey

1/2 tsp Salt

3-3.5 c Flour

Falafel

1 Can Garbanzo Beans

¼ Yellow Onion, diced

1 Medium Carrot, chopped

¼ c Fresh Parsley (or 2 tsp dried)

⅛ c Toasted Wheat Germ, Flour, or Bread Crumbs

½ tsp Cumin

⅛ tsp Coriander (plus pinch more)

Cayenne Pepper

¼ and ⅛ tsp Baking Soda

1 T Lemon Juice

½ T Olive Oil

Tabbouleh

2 bunches fresh parsley, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

4 (large) Roma tomatoes, diced

3 lemons, juiced seeds removed)

5 T olive oil

1 c quinoa

2 c water

1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/8 tsp salt

Hummus

1 can Garbanzo Beans, reserve aquafaba from can

1/4 c Tahini

1 lemon, juice

Salt, to taste

1 T Olive Oil, optional

Directions

Pita Bread

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with pizza stone inside.

2. Measure “warm” water, it should almost be too hot to keep your hand in, and combine with yeast. Let yeast dissolve and froth on the surface.

3. Add honey, salt, and 1 c of flour and whisk. It should resemble batter.

4. Add remaining flour and mix with a wooden spoon (or a mixer) until it “cleans” from the sides of the bowl.

5. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic on a floured surface (usually around 6 minutes). You want a soft dough but not sticky.

6. Let the dough rest 20 minutes

7. Cut and roll into 6 balls, roll out, and cook 1.5 minutes on preheated pizza stone. Flip and cook 1 more minute.

Falafel

1. Puree Everything (except ½ beans) until smooth.

2. Add rest of the beans until roughly chopped.

3. Make 2” patties on baking sheet and freeze 15 minutes.

4. Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes OR air fry at 370 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

**If air frying, spray the inside of your basket and flip patties after 5 minutes.**

Tabbouleh

1. Combine water and quinoa in a small sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and and simmer until soft and fluffy. (Or just throw it in the rice cooker, that is what I do.)

2. Chop parsley, green onions, and and tomatoes and combine in a large salad bowl.

3. Juice lemons and pour over salad. Add salt, pepper, and oil 1 T at a time until you reach the flavor you enjoy. (I don't do 5 T)

4. When quinoa is done, fold into salad, taste test and adjust spices as needed.

5. Cool or serve immediately.

Hummus

1. Drain beans and reserve aquafaba. Pour beans into food processor.

2. Add remainder of ingredients and about 1/3 c aquafaba and process until smooth.

**If the hummus is dry and chunky, continue to add aquafaba until smooth.**

1. Get a Charcuterie Board or a big wooden cutting board if you are me and arrange everything on it.

2. I placed the tabbouleh, hummus, and olives in bowls and then arranged the pita bread, peppers, falafel, and tomatoes around the bowls. Get creative. It is really fun.

3. You can eat it as finger food, make it a salad, or make it a gyro. My husband liked it with a vinaigrette. I ate it plain. Whatever you do, enjoy it. Leave a comment and let me know how it goes.