Dinner Tonight: Simple Meals Full of Mediterranean Flavor, written by Meliz Berg, features an exciting collection of dinners for every day of the week with vibrant ingredients and minimal prep. A few highlights include Grilled Cypriot Breakfast Gabira, One-Pot Spiced Beef Linguine, Köfte Kebabs & Garlic Sauce, Hellimli Lasagne, and Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake with Orange Blossom Yogurt Frosting. I will also be sharing her recipe for Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim following the review.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Interlink Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Meliz Berg
Meliz Berg is a food writer, recipe developer, and content creator. She grew up in London in a Turkish-Cypriot household. Meliz started the food blog, Meliz Cooks, after the birth of her first child as a way to document traditional Cypriot cuisine.
Her work has been featured in Sainsbury’s Magazine, Co-Op Food, Asda Good Living Magazine, Good Homes, the Guardian, and more. She is also the author of Meliz’s Kitchen.
Dinner Tonight
Meliz begins Dinner Tonight with a short introduction, helpful notes, and a guide to essential ingredients.
I especially love how Meliz has marked each recipe based on the following categories: Fast and Filling; Fast and Fresh; All in One; Quick Prep, Slow Cook; Traditional Recipe, Cheater’s Version; and Traditional Flavors, New Recipe. It is perfect for when you are quickly flipping through and need a specific type.
She has also included comprehensive shopping lists for ingredients she buys each week for easy reference.
Chapters are divided based on style of meal: Light Bites & Snacks, Leftovers & Pantry, Easy Midweek Suppers, Friday Fakeout, Slow Cooking, and Sweet Treats & Easy Bakes. Meliz has also put together a section dedicated to Air Fryer and Slow Cooker variations.
The photography is provided by Luke J Albert. Most of the recipes are paired with a beautifully-styled, full page photo of the finished dish.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Titles are written in English and/or Turkish Cypriot. Each recipe has a headnote with background information, personal stories, helpful tips, type of dish, ingredient notes, prep/cook time, and yield.
Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim
The Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim comes from the Leftovers & Pantry chapter. It is such a wonderfully comforting meal. The soup is fairly simple at just 5 minutes of prep and 25 minutes of cooking time, but packed with flavor.
Toasted vermicelli pieces are simmered in a light, spiced broth with lemon, tomato paste, red pepper paste, dried mint, and pepper flakes just until tender.
To finish, each bowl is topped with a few fried cheese pieces for quite the incredible contrast. Meliz recommends pairing the Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim with grilled black olives or some toasted bread for dipping.
Notable Ingredients
Tatlı Biber Salçası is a jarred Turkish sweet/mild pepper paste. For those in Northern Virginia, I was able to locate it in the Turkish section of Lotte Plaza Market in Chantilly. Look for the word Tatlı which means sweet. Acı is the hot version. After opening, store in the refrigerator with a thin layer of olive oil. Meliz also likes to freeze the paste in ice cube trays to make easy portioned pieces for adding to marinades, sauces, and stews.
Dried Durum Wheat Vermicelli are thin, wheat-based noodles. I actually used Fideos (found in Latin American and Middle Eastern markets) since that is generally what I have on hand. When breaking thin vermicelli into 1 1/4 inch (3 centimeter) pieces, use a bag or other controlled environment to catch the pieces. Otherwise, you may end up with random vermicelli flying across the kitchen.
Pul Biber are chile flakes that are “oilier, warmer, tangier, fruitier, finer and perhaps a little saltier.” They are also known as Aleppo Pepper or Turkish Red Pepper Flakes. They can be found as regular-sized flakes or finer (ipek). Either will do, but Meliz prefers the regular-sized for recipes in this book. For those in Northern Virginia, I found Pul Biber in the Turkish section of Lotte Plaza Market in Chantilly.
Hellim (the Turkish-Cypriot word, Halloumi is the name in Greek-Cypriot) is a white, semi-hard cheese originally from Cyprus. It is traditionally made from a mixture of raw, unhomogenized goat and sheep’s milk (though occasionally cow’s milk is used). It has a high melting point, making the cheese popular for grilling or frying.
I have seen Hellim in the refrigerated specialty cheese section of some larger grocery stores (like Whole Foods and Wegmans) and markets with Mediterranean ingredients.
A Few Tips
Adjust the salt and other seasonings to taste. You may need more or less depending on the salt content of the stock cube. Remember, the hellim pieces will also be salty.
The vermicelli is slowly toasted until golden brown before simmering in the soup. This will “prevent the cooked soup from having a ‘slimy’ texture.” It also adds a beautifully nutty flavor. For a gluten-free option, Meliz recommends brown rice vermicelli. Toast over low heat and do not rush the process for a more even golden color.
This soup is best served 5 minutes after preparing. With time, the noodles will soak in the broth and become soggy.
Other Dishes
I also made the All-In-One Creamy Sausage Pasta; Loaded Crunchy, Spicy Ground Beef Wraps; Slow-Cooked Bolonez; and Hellimli Yorkshire Puddings.
The All-In-One Creamy Sausage Pasta was such a great option for weeknights. Penne or other dried pasta is simmered in a spiced tomato sauce until tender. To finish, it is tossed with sausages, cream, pepper flakes, and grated cheese. For others who also love one-pot pasta meals, I am especially looking forward to trying the One-Pot Spiced Beef Linguine next.
The Loaded Crunchy, Spicy Ground Beef Wraps from the Friday Fakeout chapter was a particular hit with Chad. Large tortilla wraps are filled with a spice ground beef filling, sour cream hellim sauce, mozzarella, tortilla chips, ezme (chile dipping sauce), cucumber, and lettuce, then folded up and pan-fried on each side until crisp.
The Slow-Cooked Bolonez was a favorite with the kids, especially over pasta. Ground beef is slowly simmered for a couple of hours with onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, and spices in a rich tomato sauce. To add even more flavor, the sauce also has red wine, pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar, and tatlı biber salçası. The recipe serves about 12, so we froze the extra for an easy, yet comforting meal at a later date.
I originally had plans to make the Susamlı Somun Ekmeği (Simple Seeded Loaves, still on the list!), but got drawn last minute to the Hellimli Yorkshire Puddings on the next page. This easy recipe (can also be made gluten-free) is especially perfect for pairing with roast lamb or simply drizzled with a bit of honey and served alongside tea. The basic Yorkshire Puddings are optionally topped with a combination of grated Hellim, dried mint, sesame seeds, and nigella seeds, then baked until popped over the pan and golden.
Dinner Tonight is a fantastic pick for those interested in a variety of flavor-packed meals for every day of the week and every occasion. Many recipes come together in less than 30 minutes and in one-pot. Others require a little more prep. Meliz has included some variations for use of the air fryer and slow cooker. She has also provided notes for gluten-free and plant-based options.
Many of the ingredients are readily available in larger American grocery stores. Having a market with Mediterranean/Turkish ingredients may be helpful in locating items such as beyaz peynir (Turkish white cheese), nigella seeds, sumac, pomegranate molasses, orange blossom water, and rose petals.
Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim Recipe
Excerpt from Dinner Tonight
Vermicelli Soup with Fried Hellim
Ingredients
- 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube crumbled
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon tatlı biber salçası (Turkish sweet/mild red pepper paste)
- 8 3/4 cups (900 milliliters) boiling hot water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 5 1/2 ounces (150 grams) dried durum wheat vermicelli broken into 1 1/4 inch (3 centimeter) strands
- 1 teaspoon dried mint plus extra to garnish
- 1 teaspoon pul biber (Aleppo pepper/Turkish red pepper flakes) plus extra to garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper plus extra to garnish
- 5 1/2 ounces (150 grams) hellim (halloumi cheese) washed and cut into 3/4 inch (2 centimeter) cubes
- 1 large lemon juiced, plus extra to serve
Instructions
- In a large jug, whisk the crumbled stock cube, the tomato purée and tatlı biber salçası into the boiling water until dissolved. Leave to one side.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil to a large pot and place on the stovetop over low heat.
- Once hot, add the vermicelli to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously so that each strand browns evenly.
- Once the vermicelli strands are a rich golden-brown color, take the pot off the heat. The vermicelli will continue to darken a little once removed from the heat.
- Allow the vermicelli to cool down in the pot for a few minutes (to prevent the oil and liquid from reacting and dangerously splattering when the stock is added), then carefully pour in the stock mixture.
- Place the pot back on the stovetop over medium heat, stir through the dried mint, pul biber, sea salt flakes and coarse black pepper, bring the soup up to a boil, then simmer on low-medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the vermicelli is cooked but still has a little bit of bite to it (add another 1/2-3/4 cup, 120-180 milliliters of boiling water to the pot while it's cooking if you feel like the soup needs loosening a little).
- Brush a small frying pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place the pan on the stovetop over medium heat.
- Pat the Hellim cubes dry with paper towels and carefully add the cubes to the hot oil.
- Cook the cubes for a couple of minutes, ensuring to turn them frequently until the cubes are a lovely golden-brown all over. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels (to soak up excess oil).
- Once the soup is ready, stir through the lemon juice, take the pot off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Ladle into bowls, add the crispy hellim cubes, sprinkle over a little more dried mint, pul biber and coarse black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.
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