Arabian Night - An All Mediterranean Dinner

The Mediterranean dinner menu consisted of:

Appetizer :: Hummus 

A creamy chickpea dip served with crispy Pita bread or nachos

Entree :: Chicken Shawarma

Pita bread filled with grilled chicken, grilled eggplant, garlic based sauce, pickled vegetables like cucumber, gherkins, (fresh tomatoes and lettuce- optional)

Side Dish 1 ::  Mutabbal (Baba Ghanoush)

A roasted eggplant based garlic infused creamy dip

Side Dish 2 :: Tzatziki 

Cucumber, yogurt dip infused with lemon zest

Dessert :: Baklava 

A rich, pastry made of layers of phyllo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup 

Wine :: Sherry - Palo Cortado 

This aperitif compliments olives, nuts, meatballs

Post Dinner :: Darjeeling  Tea and a Majid Majidi movie

Relaxing tea with an uplifting movie :)

Other options:

*Add crispy nachos with the hummus 

or 

Eat hummus with vegetable sticks (healthier option) 

**Cut leftover phyllo sheets from baklava in squares, big enough to cover the cups of the muffin tray. Make several such cups by placing a layer of 2-3 phyllo sheets and gently pressing them to take shape of the cup. Now bake this at 350 F till it becomes crisp and golden brown. Fill with dips of your choice, like hummus, mutabbal, tzatzik.