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Seared scallops with tzatziki, Cypriot potatoes and watermelon and feta salad make the perfect meal for two.
AARP (Thomas Schauer, 3; Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Summer is a time for simple cooking. Markets are bursting with juicy ripe fruits and freshly picked vegetables — so many amazing ingredients! If I’m not outside grilling, then I’m making meals that can come together quickly and can be served just warm or at room temperature. At my Zaytinya restaurants, we celebrate the foods of the eastern Mediterranean — Greece, Turkey and Lebanon — where recipes are inspired by the sun and the sea and are perfect for summer. We serve these dishes as mezze — small plates meant to be shared — just like the tapas we serve at my Jaleo restaurants. When you combine just a few dishes, you have a perfect meal for two.
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Here, I’m sharing some of my favorite flavor-packed dishes from my new cookbook, Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. You’ll find a mix of tastes and textures — cool, sweet and savory — with these recipes for Seared Scallops With Tzatziki, Cypriot-Style Potatoes and Watermelon and Feta Salad. I’ve adapted these recipes to make enough for two, so just add a chilled bottle of Greek Assyrtiko wine and you’ll have an astonishing meal any night of the week.
Seared Scallops With Tzatziki
Seared scallops are excellent paired with tzatziki and sumac rose spice.
Images © 2024 by Thomas Schauer. Courtesy of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Tzatziki is an extremely flexible dish. You can eat it as a dressing on lamb and beef gyros, as a dip for warm pita or make it a salad by tossing it with a bunch of seasonal vegetables. The creamy yogurt in tzatziki brings out the natural sweetness in scallops. Season the scallops with our Sumac Rose Spice (see below), and you’ll find an unexpected aroma and tartness (and a new spice mix that will become a favorite!). When shopping for scallops, look for 10/20 size (10 to 20 make up a pound), and make sure they’re dry packed, meaning they haven’t been artificially plumped up with water and additives. When cooking them, get a good dark golden sear, but don’t cook them beyond that — you want to make sure they don’t get chewy.
Ingredients
- ½ small red radish, ends trimmed
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup tzatziki (recipe follows)
- 8 large scallops, cleaned and side muscle removed
- ½ teaspoon Sumac Rose Spice (recipe follows) or sumac
- 4 to 6 pea tendrils (or leaves from a sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley)
- ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
Directions
Thinly slice the radish, preferably using a mandoline or box slicer. Place the slices in a bowl of ice water.
To prepare the scallops, warm the canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Line a plate with paper towels. Gently dry the scallops with a paper towel and season with salt. Add the scallops to the hot pan and sear on both sides until dark golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the scallops to the lined plate to drain.
To serve, divide the tzatziki between two plates and spread across the bottoms. Set four scallops on each plate and sprinkle with Sumac Rose Spice (or sumac). Garnish each plate with radish slices and pea tendrils, then drizzle with olive oil and season with flaky sea salt.
Ingredients for Sumac Rose Spice
- 1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons rose petals
- 1½ tablespoons sumac
- ½ teaspoon coarsely ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon Urfa pepper (Try red chile flakes or freshly ground black pepper if you can’t find Urfa pepper.)
Directions
For the Sumac Rose Spice, grind pink peppercorns in a spice grinder or small food processor until finely ground. Add rose petals and pulse until the petals are crushed into very small pieces. Transfer the pepper and rose petals to a small mixing bowl and add sumac, ground cumin, toasted sesame seeds and Urfa pepper. Stir together until well combined and store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Use this aromatic sweet-spicy mixture on seafood and meat.
Ingredients for Tzatziki
Makes about 2½ cups
- 1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 garlic cloves, preferably garlic confit (see below)
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup labneh
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
- Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Directions
Season the cucumber with a teaspoon of salt and let sit for 1 hour. Wring out the cucumbers in a clean dish towel to remove excess liquid.
Put the garlic into a medium bowl and smash into a paste with a fork or the back of a wooden spoon. (If using fresh garlic, mash the cloves in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt until it becomes a paste, then spoon the paste into a medium bowl.)
Whisk in the yogurt and labneh, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to whisk. Fold in the cucumbers and herbs, then season to taste with salt and white pepper.
To serve, spoon tzatziki into a serving dish and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil. Cover any remaining tzatziki and refrigerate for up to a week.
To make the Garlic Confit
Preheat oven to 250°F. Separate one head of garlic into cloves, then peel and trim the ends. Place the cloves in a small baking dish, cover with olive oil and roast until tender, about 40 minutes. Strain the garlic, reserving the oil for sautéing vegetables or other uses. Store the cloves in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to two weeks. Mash the sweet, soft roasted garlic cloves into sauces or yogurt.
Cypriot-Style Potatoes With Coriander and Wine (Patates Antinahtes)
These Cypriot-style potatoes absorb all the flavor from the simmering wine and develop a crispy crust from the olive oil.
Thomas Schauer/Courtesy Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers
This specialty of Cyprus, where “tossed” baby potatoes are combined with wine and spices, was taught to me by Greek food writer and mentor Aglaia Kremezi. She told me it’s important to crack not only the coriander seeds — the telltale spice of Cypriot dishes — but the potatoes as well, so they can absorb all the flavor from the simmering wine and then develop a crispy crust from the olive oil. The semisweet rosé wine commonly used in Cyprus can be difficult to find, so we like to use dry rosé with a touch of honey. We also like to add cilantro, which lends color and echoes the flavor of the traditional coriander seed in this dish. These potatoes make a great side dish to any seafood or meat and can easily go from dinner table to picnic table.
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby gold potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- ¼ cup dry rosé wine
- ½ teaspoon honey, preferably Greek
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
Place the potatoes in a pot large enough to hold them in one layer with a little room to spare. Add the olive oil and a pinch of salt, then add enough water to halfway cover the potatoes. Bring the potatoes to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cook until the water has evaporated and the potatoes start to gently fry, about 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the coriander seeds on a cutting board, cover with a dish towel, and use a rolling pin or the side of a chef’s knife to coarsely crack the seeds. Brush the cracked seeds into a small mixing bowl and set aside.
As the potatoes fry, reduce the heat to medium-low and gently crack them one by one with the back of a ladle or potato masher; you want to slightly crush them while still keeping most of their shape. Continue frying until the exposed potato begins to brown and get crispy.
Once the potatoes are browned, add the coriander seeds and toss until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the wine and honey and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed and concentrates, about 1 more minute. Stir in the cilantro, season to taste with salt and serve warm or at room temperature.
Watermelon and Feta Salad (Karpouzi Me Feta)
The watermelon and feta salad is sweet and savory and a great way to get your daily dose of fruit.
Thomas Schauer/Courtesy Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers
Ripe summer watermelons are a thing of beauty. All across the Mediterranean they are found on breakfast tables and passed around after a big meal for a simple dessert. Try using a mix of watermelons, if you can find yellow or orange seedless varieties at your farmers market. This sweet, savory salad is a great way to get your daily dose of fruit and, with low-calorie watermelon as the star, it will surely become a summer favorite.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups chopped seedless watermelon, preferably in 1-inch cubes
- ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon honey, preferably Greek
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 3 pitted Kalamata olives, thinly sliced
- 4 mint leaves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions
- ½ cup red watercress or baby arugula
- ¼ cup crumbled feta
- Flaky sea salt
Directions
Chill the watermelon in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Whisk the lemon juice, honey and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large salad bowl until emulsified.
Add the watermelon, olives, mint, scallions and watercress and toss well. Scatter the feta over the salad, drizzle with a little more olive oil and season to taste with sea salt.
Excerpted from Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2024 by José Andrés Media.
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