Mediterranean Grill Plate

There's feta cheese hiding in the upper right corner, in case you didn't notice.

A few years ago, I was inspired by that part in "Eat, Pray, Love" when she's eating an Italian meal that just has separate components on a plate together... I remember that there was asparagus, and I think there was a hard-boiled egg, and I can't remember what else she had. But that idea of just putting several good things on a plate without necessarily integrating them has stuck with me, and it kind of guided this meal.

My plate consisted of: grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, slices of feta, hummus, arugula from the garden, and grilled pita. Jess's plate also had a lamb patty. If one liked olives, that would probably be good here. We ended up wrapping some up some bites in pita and eating some bites on their own. It was delicious and felt like a very leisurely way to dine on a warm, sunny day.

Jess's lamb.

We're pretty proud of our growing skills with the grill.

I think we will be eating more meals like this from the grill this summer. Stay tuned for an Asian grill plate, a South American grill plate, and probably several versions of a Pacific Northwest grill plate.

The Recipe (serves 2):

3 oz feta cheese

2 pita flatbreads, grilled

1 chicken breast, marinated (olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes) and grilled

1 lamb patty (ground lamb, minced onion, salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes), grilled

1 zucchini (sliced and tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper), grilled

1/2 c hummus (chickpeas, tahini, water, garlic, salt, lemon juice, parsley)

arugula leaves, olives, or anything else that you'd enjoy eating with this

Put things on a plate. Eat them.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: B+

Overall reason: Love the method. Could have used something brighter/crunchier for contrast. Oranges?

Time to prepare: I marinated the chicken for about 4 hours. Other than that, about 40 minutes of work.

Husband quote: "If you're in for a thrill, try a Mediterranean grill!"

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