Cooking Greek can bring stunning flavors to the table

CONCORD, N.H. -- For late-summer dinner parties I usually lean Italian.

But recently I experimented with Italy's culinary cousin -- Greece. What a success. I was truly astounded by how easily stunning flavors could be had, and for even less work than my usual low-key Italian efforts.

My menu was simple, for a salad I opted for a diced tomato and cucumber number. For the main course I went more broadly Middle Eastern with falafel (strongly seasoned fried patties made from ground chickpeas), wrapped in a bed of greens and pita bread and doused with tzatziki yogurt sauce.

Though I've had luck making falafel from scratch in the past, I wanted something faster for this dinner and opted for one of the many boxed mixes available in the ethnic section of most grocers.

Tzatziki also can be bought at the store, but I don't recommend it. Homemade tastes so much better, especially if you get Greek-style yogurt. Traditional recipes are easy and require little more than mixing the yogurt with fresh seasonings.

One bit of advice on the tzatziki; it can be watery. To avoid this, make it several hours to a day ahead (best anyway for letting the flavors develop) and spoon half the recipe into a mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth.

Set the strainer over a bowl, then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use. Discard the water that collects in the bowl and mix the now-thickened portion with the reserved tzatziki.

Greek Village Salad

2 small or 1 large green bell pepper, cored and sliced into thick strips

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into thick half rounds

1 small red or white onion, cut into thin slivers

3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

18 to 24 Kalamata olives

1 tablespoon capers, drained

4 ounces feta cheese, coarsely crumbled (1 cup)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Place the peppers, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, olives, capers and cheese in a large bowl. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, then with olive oil. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Crumble oregano over the salad, then toss lightly.

Makes 6 servings.

Tzatziki

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 to 4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

1 small cucumber

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or dill

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Spread the salt on a cutting board. Place the peeled garlic cloves on the salt and finely chop it, mashing the garlic into the salt as you cut.

Transfer the salt and garlic to a medium bowl. Add the yogurt and stir until well mixed.

Peel the cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scrape out the seeds, leaving only the firm outer flesh of the cucumber. Finely chop the cucumber and squeeze the pieces to remove any excess moisture.

Stir the cucumber, dill or mint, pepper and vinegar into the yogurt. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Makes 6 servings (2 cups).