Greek Island Platter
Greek food is utterly delicious, but whenever I eat it at a restaurant I end up finishing everything on the table and waddling home clutching my stomach. This way I get to taste everything and stay within the limits of human consumption.
250 g fine green beans
8 fresh sardines, cleaned, or 12 canned
2 pita breads
8 pickled Greek chillies
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
150 g feta cheese, drained
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
100 g taramasalata
2 tbsp kalamata olives
1/2 cucumber, finely sliced
100 g low-fat yogurt
1 small red onion, very finely sliced into rings
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
1 lemon, quartered
Cook the green beans in simmering salted water for 4 minutes or until tender, then drain and cool.
Heat the grill. If using fresh sardines, brush with olive oil and grill for 5 minutes on each side. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. If using canned sardines, drain well.
Grill the pita bread for 1 minute, turning once, then cut into long wedges.
To assemble the platters, arrange the sardines and chillies on four dinner plates. Toss the green beans in olive oil, sea salt and pepper and arrange on plates. Crumble the feta over the top and scatter with pine nuts.
Top the pita bread with a dollop of taramasalata and an olive. Add the cucumber and a dollop of yogurt, scatter with red onion, olives, dried oregano and fresh oregano leaves. Drizzle with olive oil, add a lemon wedge and serve.
Serves 4
