Middle Eastern Mezze Platter for Valentines Day

I loved my special Valentine's Day outing to an authentic Middle Eastern neighborhood restaurant. My husband and I ordered a sampler of Middle Eastern appetizers arranged on a large platter with some little individual bowls of other specialty salads. This kind of combination of many appetizers is known in Middle Eastern cooking as --a  Mezze Platter.

What is Mezze? 
Mezze is a derivative of the Lebanese word "alumazza" which means, "that which is devoured." When most people refer to mezze, they are referring to a meal made up of many kinds of Middle Eastern appetizers.

What Was On My Mezze Platter? 
My Mezze platter consisted of homemade (by the owner of the restaurant) falafel balls, his homemade humus, tehina, three kinds of colorful cabbage salad, moroccan carrot salad, pickled beet salad, baba ganooj (smoked eggplant salad), Israeli tomato and cucumber salad and mushroom salad. All were beautifully served and amazingly delicious and made to order.

The intimate restaurant was very small, making the service very personal. There were only about 10 people in the entire restaurant which can only accommodate 12 maximum.

Each of the delicious little salads were marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, fresh herbs and lots of fresh garlic.The falafel was made of cooked chick peas and fava beans and blended with generous amounts of fresh parsley, garlic, and cilantro.

Everything Was Gluten Free and Vegetarian
The mezze meal was a gluten free vegetarian/vegans dream and the perfect Valentine surprise for me! They provided vegetable sticks such as celery, carrots, and romaine lettuce leaves for me instead of pita bread which is not gluten free.

Thank you to my dear husband Albert for this wonderful Valentine's Day gift!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!