Salad in the Sun

We can’t all spend our summer vacations on the Mediterranean. But we can enjoy an outdoor meal that makes it easy to pretend we’re there. California, after all, is known for its Mediterranean climate.

This is a simple menu, rich with the flavors of the region. The salad is very much like a typical Greek salad, crisp and clean, but with added orzo and chickpeas to make it substantial enough to be a main course. The olives and feta add a nice natural saltiness.

Instead of bread with butter or olive oil, serve the salad with plenty of quartered pitas, which can be spread with an eggplant-yogurt dip and homemade hummus. If you’ve never eaten hummus, prepare to become addicted. The ground chickpeas, garlic and lemon make for a spread that’s difficult to stop eating once you’ve begun.

Menu

Mediterranean Salad

Eggplant and Yogurt Dip

Lemon Hummus

Pita Bread

Fresh Oranges in Grand Marnier

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD

1/2 pound orzo, cooked, rinsed and chilled

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans

4 plum tomatoes, quartered

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced

1/2 pound feta cheese, drained, crumbled

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin

1/4 pound Kalamata or Nicoise olives

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 teaspoons chopped marjoram

2 tablespoons chopped basil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt, pepper

1 head red leaf lettuce

Mix orzo, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, green onions and olives in salad bowl. Refrigerate.

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, marjoram, basil and red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste in small mixing bowl.

Just before serving, arrange several lettuce leaves on each plate. Toss salad with dressing. Serve on leaves.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

49 calories; 69 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.46 grams fiber.

EGGPLANT-AND-YOGURT SPREAD

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Salt, pepper

5 (1/2-inch-thick) slices eggplant

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped mint

1/2 cup plain yogurt, well-drained

Combine olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in small bowl. Brush mixture onto eggplant slices and place eggplant on baking sheet. Bake slices in oven at 400 degrees 15 minutes, then turn slices over and bake 5 minutes more. Remove from oven.

When slices are cool, remove peel. Combine eggplant, lemon juice, mint and remaining 1 teaspoon garlic in bowl of food processor. Puree until almost smooth. Add yogurt and pulse once or twice to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

16 calories; 17 mg sodium; 1 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

LEMON HUMMUS Tahineh, one of the basics of Greek cooking, is made from sesame seeds and can be bought at many grocery stores and most Middle Eastern markets.

1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup tahineh

1/3 cup lemon juice

Zest 1 lemon, grated

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt, pepper

Combine garbanzo beans, tahineh, lemon juice, lemon zest and garlic in bowl of food processor. Process until very smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes about 1 cup.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

49 calories; 69 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.46 gram fiber.

FRESH ORANGES IN COINTREAU

4 oranges

1/4 cup Cointreau

Peel oranges with small, sharp knife, making sure no white pith is left on oranges. Cut each orange crosswise into 5 slices. Place in large shallow bowl. Dribble Cointreau over oranges and refrigerate about 3 to 4 hours.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

91 calories; 0 sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.61 gram fiber.

PANTRY

2 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans

4 plum tomatoes

1 bunch green onions

3 to 4 lemons

Olive oil

Fresh parsley

Garlic

Salt, Pepper

Cointreau

SHOPPING LIST

1 (1-pound box) orzo

1 cucumber

1/2 pound feta cheese

1/4 pound Kalamata or Nicoise olives

1 bunch fresh marjoram

1 bunch fresh mint

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 medium eggplant

1 small (8-ounce) carton plain yogurt

1 small (8-ounce) jar tahineh

4 oranges

GAME PLAN

Night before lunch: Make hummus and refrigerate. Bake eggplant. Remove from oven to cool. Put yogurt in fine-meshed sieve to strain, in refrigerator.

Morning of lunch: Cook orzo, refresh in cold water, drain and refrigerate. Peel and slice oranges, refrigerate. Prepare salad dressing and refrigerate. Prepare salad ingredients as directed.

Just before lunch: Finish making eggplant yogurt spread. Cut pita into triangles. Assemble and dress salad.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Kitchen Tips

* If you’d like to make garbanzo beans yourself, rather than buying canned, cover them with water and soak overnight. The next day, drain, rinse and cover them again with water in large pot. Add 1 teaspoon salt for every cup of beans and cook over low heat until tender, about 1 to 2 hours. A cup of dried beans will yield about 2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) cooked.

* Orzo is a tiny rice-shaped pasta. It must be rinsed before serving cold to rid it of any surface starch that might cause it to become gummy.

* There are many feta cheeses on the market, made in Greece, Bulgaria, France and Wisconsin and ranging from dry and very salty to creamy and mild. Be sure to taste a bit of cheese before you buy.

* Kalamata and Nicoise olives are both dark and brine-cured, meaning they have a subtle tang. Buy them at a market where olives are sold loose, so you can taste a sample before purchasing.

* Peeling eggplant after roasting keeps the color of the meat light.