Mezze Platter - Leftover's surprise

A colourful plate of tasty dishes

This is a 'mezze platter I made for our lunch.  The surprising result was the product of clearing out the fridge, using up ingredients on the cusp of turning and just a few fresh ingredients from the farmers market. 

Here's what I assembled:

• Roasted baby carrots in olive oil and fennel seeds.
  
• Smoked aubergine dip (see method below)
• Griddled courgette slices.
• Samphire & beetroot salad tossed with a little lemon juice & pepper
• Quinoa salad with dill and Iranian barberries

The smoked aubergine dip was as follows:

1. Blister an aubergine on the fire until it completely collapses and is soft right through.  
2. When cool enough to handle peel off the charred skin, chop roughly.
3. Blitz with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, some parsley and seasoning.

This is particularly delicious with middle eastern flatbread.  Also goes really well with chicken.