Dinner Party Inspiration ~ Vegetarian Lebanese Spread
Lebanese food always sends my tastebuds dancing. I love it all.
This Vegetarian Lebanese Inspired Dinner Party has been created for anyone who loves to play with spices and enjoys the burst of flavour brought into meals by pomegranates and figs. Such beautiful ingredients and aromas.
The recipes inspiring this week's Dinner Party Inspiration post not only taste good, but are amazingly beautiful in appearance. I have added a few 'cheat notes' to the recipes where relevant for those of us who don't have the time, or choose to spend it, making some of the recipes from scratch.
If you throw this dinner party and have a wonderful time doing so, share your photos with me on Facebook by posting them to my wall (Tipple and Fodder), or share on Instagram by tagging me @tippleandfodder in the image and using the tag #dinnerpartyinspo_tippleandfodder
The Inspiration
Tablescapes
Set your table using colours and smells of the Middle East as your inspiration. A Lebanese or Middle Eastern theme can lead you down some pretty creative, and expensive, pathways depending on how elegant of an occasion you're channelling. By all means go and buy items you love, but you can also keep it simple for a one-off dinner party in your home by collating a few items from home and adding colour. Colour pops of gold, pink, red and teal. Centrepieces reflecting the same hues in flowers and fruit; persimmons, pomegranates, figs, red roses, pink roses, cinnamon sticks and aromatic candles.
Grab some gold doilies from your nearest dollar shop and bring out that trusty brown paper roll I told you to invest in last week... it can be the base runner once again!
It's also the perfect opportunity to put out those old silver or gold trays, teapots and candleholders, crystal vases and mismatched glasses. Eclectic mismatching is the game.
Appetiser
Loaded Hummus (recipe by What's Gaby Cooking?)
Serve with flatbread
Main Course
Tahini Roasted Cauliflower with Lemony Herb Oil (recipe by Maikin Mokomin)
Serve the main course with additional flat bread.
Lebanese Freekeh and Fig Salad (recipe by Kellies Food to Glow)
Dessert
Wine
The spice and flavours of Lebanese cuisine lends itself perfectly to a crisp dry rose. Try one of my favourites, the Krinklewood Francesca Rose (Krinklewood link here). Krinklewood is a gorgeous biodynamic vineyard located in Broke in the Hunter Valley, NSW. I can't visit the Hunter Valley without stopping by. It truly is the most gorgeous place. If you haven't been, put it at the top of your list for your next visit to the Hunter Valley. You won't be disappointed. Their cellar door is open to the public every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 4.30pm and it's beautiful even just to set your eyes upon, and then there's the wine!
If you live further away, hop onto their website using the link above. I'm a member with Krinklewood, which I'd highly recommend, but you can order online without joining too.
You can also purchase this online at VENO, which offers some alternative suggestions also. There store is located in Annandale for the Sydneysider readers!
The Organisation
As always - first things first; CHILL THAT WINE!
If time is on your side, make the hummus as per the recipe, starting a day before you need it.
CHEATS NOTE: If you don't have the time to do that, make organisation super simple and instead buy a top quality one from a grocer.
Pop pomegranate seeds, slice onion, chop parsley and crumble feta before your guests arrive. Set them aside to top the hummus with just before you serve. If using store bought hummus, use canned chickpeas and toss through olive oil and sprinkle with salt to roast/toast in a pan to top the hummus with at the last minute before the appetiser is to be served.
Halve and deseed the apricots before your guests arrive and set aside covered on a tray. Mix the cream cheese and ricotta together, cover and refrigerate until apricots are ready to eat.
For the baked cauliflower, prepare the cauliflower and tahini coating, spreading it on the cauliflower ready to put in the oven when it's time. Set this aside, covered. Make the lemony oil mixture and set aside to use before serving.
You can then prepare the freekeh salad ingredients, set them aside to toss together later and the figs ready to simply griddle prior to serving. Cook the freekeh, following the recipe to the end of Step 1.
When your guests are due to arrive, roast or pan fry the chickpeas and put together the Loaded Hummus. Serve it with the flatbread.
The cauliflower needs to be in the oven 45 minutes before you would like the main course.
Griddle the figs 5-10 minutes before the cauliflower is finished baking.
Serve the cauliflower and freekeh salad in the centre of the table for everyone to help themselves. Extra flat bread in the middle to share will be perfect.
20 minutes before you'd like dessert, start prepping the apricot halves for baking. Serve them topped with the cheese mixture, pistachios and honey.
Everyone will be full and happy after this amazing dinner!
The Preparation
Click each links for recipes and relevant information below, or simply click the images above.
Tahini Roasted Cauliflower with Lemony Herb Oil Using the website link, scroll to the end for the English version, as the top is Finnish.
Krinklewood Francesca Rose (online at VENO and at Annandale Cellars, 119 Johnson Street, Annandale NSW 2038)
Acknowledgements
My Dinner Party Inspiration posts use some of my own recipes and photos, but also some recipes and images from blogs or sites I personally find inspirational. I in no way claim the work as my own and reference all recipes and photos by linking them all back to their original website.
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