Quick & Easy Middle Eastern Feast

This feast has a great mixture of flavours, good serving sizes and a fantastic mix of vegetables that bring a spectacular visual appeal to the meal. Perfect for outdoor summer entertaining that everyone will enjoy, plus it’s packed with vegetables and plant diversity to support wellbeing. Just 90 minutes is all you need to conjure up this spectacular collection of dishes.

Za’atar Grilled or Baked Fish

1 onion (180g), thinly sliced
2 x large fennel bulb (300g), thinly sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10-12 sardine fillets or 6 whole sardines or mackerel or trout
1 tbsp za’atar, plus extra to serve
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of chilli powder
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Small bunch of dill, finely chopped

Serves 5 to 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Tip the onion and fennel into a roasting tin. Drizzle over the olive oil, season well, toss to coat and roast for 30 minutes until soft. Preheat the grill to high, toss the fish in the za'atar, season well and lay over the top of the vegetables. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes until the fish skin is lightly charred and blistered. Transfer to a serving platter and top with a generous pinch of za'atar, the lemon zest and chili powder. Just before serving, scatter over the parsley and dill, with the lemon juice.

Gorgeous Quick Hummus

2 x 400g cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
1 garlic clove grated
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sumac

Serves 5 to 6
Prep time: 5 minute
Cook time: 5 minutes

Tip the chickpeas into a saucepan over a medium heat with a little boiling water, to ward through for 5 minutes. Drain then add to a food processor with the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and cumin. Blend until smooth, gradually adding the ice- cold water until you have a silky-smooth paste. Season with a pinch of salt then spread out on a serving platter. Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle over the sumac.

Molasses-Roast Peppers

800g mixed peppers, deseeded and cut into thick wedges
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Serves 5 or 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200° C fan. Tip the peppers into a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and season. Roast for 40 minutes until soft and blistered, giving them a stir a couple of times during the cooking. To finish, drizzle over the pomegranate molasses toss to combine. Spread out on a serving platter. Enjoy hot or cold.

Harissa-Roast Abergines

2 large aubergines (800g) cut into 3cm thick wedges
3 tbsp harissa paste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g rocket

Serves 5 or 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Tip the aubergine into another roasting tin and coat with the harissa and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook alongside the peppers for 40 minutes at 200°C fan. Spoon the aubergine onto a platter with rocket leaves just before serving. Gorgeous, hot or cold.