Fourth of July Food Special

On the 4th of July 2009 Dique and I enjoyed a Mediterranean feast. While we joked that it wasn't traditional "American" fare, we decided that being patriotic can sometimes mean celebrating the melting pot this country is, and "eat outside the box" - if you will. One of my favorite foodie writers is Nigella Lawson, who swears making hummus is easy, cheap and worth it. Spoiler alert: she's totally right!

And Dique's mom had recently shared a recipe for a delish dish involving roasted eggplant, fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and other delicious things. So I decided to go to town and cook the day away. I made two kinds of hummus and nann, a spearmint/cucumber yogurt dip, Dique's mom's dish which I call Eggplant Mélange and a big veggie platter went down well with some pink grapefruit Greyhounds. The only thing missing was the baklava, which I haven't found the patience to try yet. Don't worry -- we managed.

And to bring in a little bit of Americana, we enjoyed our feast in front of a Back To The Future movie marathon. Totally patriotic, no?

Here are the details...

Eggplant Mélange

Plain Hummus, Spearmint/Cucumber Yogurt Dip, Oniony Hummus

Table of Indulgence #1

Table #2 had all the healthy stuff...

A veggie platter, in our book, has to include sauteed mushrooms. Because they are simply delicious. Period. Funghi is our friend.

Recipes forthcoming!