The Ultimate Summer Mezze Platter with Vegan Dip Recipes
Mezze platters are made for sharing, and we’ve been inspired by the many grazing boards we have seen flashing up on Instagram and Pinterest recently. We wanted to share our vegan dip recipes with you, and you can use them as inspiration to build your own breathtakingly beautiful platter. The mezze board is the perfect choice for welcoming some guests to the garden to enjoy the sunshine and get the drinks and laughter flowing. It’s healthy, deceptively easy and is sure to impress. It might almost feel like you are back in the Med this summer. (Fingers crossed that the weather in England plays its part.)
How to build your Mezze Board or Mezze Platter
1. Choose your board or platter – the styling and presentation of your board are key if you want to make this a thing of beauty. Choose a wooden breadboard or serving platter, a marble slate or a stylish baking dish to hold your mezze spread. You may need to make more than one platter if you have lots of guests
2. Find your bowls or ramekins – find a collection of beautiful bowls or ramekins to house your dips and smaller items. Adding them directly to the board gets messy quickly, even if it looks good at the start. You can use any small dishes or even a saucer or shot glass if needed.
3. Make your dips – the dips are the highlight of your mezze platter. Check out the vegan dip recipes below for inspiration. Add them to your bowls and arrange them on the platter.
4. Prepare your fresh crudites and vegetables. For our board, we have used carrots, chicory leaves, peas, cucumber, celery and radishes. The chicory leaves are washed, separated and added to the platter. Chop the carrots, celery, radishes and cucumber and arrange them on your platter or board. Vegetables are an essential part of any great mezze, and you could also add other fresh vegetables like chopped peppers or cherry tomatoes.
5. Add your extras. We’ve added olives and crackers to our board; you could also add triangles of warm pitta bread, breadsticks, roasted tomatoes, or grapes to cleanse the palate. Roasted aubergine or roasted artichokes are also great for dipping.
6. Snap a pic – since you’ve gone to all the trouble to create this work of art, snap a picture before your guests arrive and dig in.
7. Enjoy. Now relax and enjoy your mezze board with your guests.
Making your own Hummus
When you are making your board, it’s nice to make your own hummus too. We recommend at least two dips for a mezze board. This dynamic dip duo is vegan and gluten-free, and both are made using Plenish Almond Milk. They both offer a fresh twist on standard hummus to help you give your guests the wow factor. Please note that you need a high-speed blender for both recipes as a standard blender will not achieve a super creamy consistency. If you do not have a high-speed blender, a food processor can be used. Remove the chickpea skins first if you are using a food processor, or your dip will be grainy.
Roasted Cauliflower Hummus Dip Recipe
Serves 10 (It makes about 2.5 cups and 4 tbsp per serve)
Hands-on: 10 minutes
Overall time: 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 cans chickpeas (800g), rinsed + drained
15 tbsp Plenish almond milk
1/2 cup tahini
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt
1/2 small cauliflower, broken into florets (220g)
To serve
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of paprika
How to make Roasted Cauliflower Hummus
1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 180 fan.
2. Place the cauliflower on a baking tray, drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for about 25 minutes or until golden, then allow the cauliflower to cool.
3. Add the chickpeas, almond milk, tahini, 2 tbsp of olive oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, and cooled cauliflower to a high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. This process may take 3 – 5 minutes, and you will need to scrape the sides a couple of times.
4. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of paprika or smoked paprika.
Green Pea Hummus Dip Recipe
Serves 5 (makes about 1 + 1/4 cups. 4 tbsp per serve)
Hands-on: 10 minutes
Overall time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (140g) frozen peas
1 tin chickpeas (400g), rinsed + drained
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp Plenish almond milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
To serve
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and cracked black pepper
How to Make Green Pea Hummus Dip
1. Place the peas in boiling water to soak for 3 mins. Drain and rinse under cold water.
2. Combine the peas, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice + zest, olive oil, salt and pepper in a high-speed blender and puree until completely smooth.
3. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper.
4. And there you have it. A beautiful mezze board ready for your guests’ arrival. If you give this one a try, don’t forget to share your creations on social media and tag us using #Plenish.
If you enjoyed reading this, you might also like our cocktail recipes to serve to your guests or to check out some of our favourite vegan food bloggers for more inspiration.