Mujaddara is a Middle Eastern dish that traditionally pairs lentils with rice and caramelized onions. Certain versions, like this one, exchange the rice for bulgur wheat, which adds a sweet nuttiness and beautiful texture to the dish. Continue reading →

Luqaimat or Luqmat in the Middle East served as inspiration for these black sesame donuts glazed with date molasses. Continue reading →

This frittata with caramelized garlic and butternut squash incorporates a bit of exotic spice, Aleppo chili for heat and pimenton de la Vera for smokiness. Continue reading →

Shakshuka is a Maghreb mainstay – baked eggs over an onion, garlic and tomato sauce that’s eaten for breakfast or supper – and even made its way to Israel where it’s an extremely popular dish. Continue reading →

This chutney takes luscious, summer-ripe peaches and goes a step further by smoking them and cooking them down with roasted cumin seeds – the perfect accompaniment to pork chops, grilled fish, or even brie and crackers. Continue reading →

Crisp, flavorful, tender and juicy – here’s a recipe for deeply-satisfying fried chicken infused with saffron. Continue reading →

Fava beans are the taste of spring and, here, are buttery and delicious as a purée topped with sumac-dusted onions. Continue reading →

So I’m going to disclaim this recipe by pointing out that I generally try to showcase recipes that are relatively easy to recreate in the home.  But every now and then, in order to achieve that superlative dish or in … Continue reading →

Luscious and creamy, panna cotta infused with the flavors of Arabic coffee makes the perfect (fast!) entertaining or even weeknight dessert. Continue reading →

Sweet wine-poached figs and the resulting honey-wine-fig-infused syrup drizzled over vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of toasted, nutty almond slices creates a heavenly sundae. Continue reading →

A quick and easy compound butter with za’atar and roasted garlic is perfect to slather on toasted, crusty bread. Continue reading →

The classic combination of lamb and quince come together in this melt-in-your-mouth meatball. Continue reading →

In Turkey, a hands-on baklava lesson proved both beautiful and labor-intensive but, surprisingly, gave me some ideas for how to make the process easier for the home cook. The result is a quick and dirty baklava that doesn’t skimp on taste or texture – perfectly sweet with honey, vanilla, and cinnamon undertones. Continue reading →

Watching a woman make her family yoghurt from fresh cow’s milk in Bodrum motivated me to make my own. The process couldn’t be simpler, and it’s way tastier (and cheaper) than the store-bought kind. Continue reading →

This recipe is for a deliciously simple, seasonal sunchoke soup, warmly spiced and finished with coconut milk and lemon juice. This is easy enough as a go-to weeknight soup but refined enough for a dinner or holiday party. Continue reading →

This is a deliciously quick recipe for “risotto” using Israeli couscous and flavored with lemon and fennel. Continue reading →

Seasonal celery root makes an excellent substitute for chickpeas in this hummus incarnation – light, fluffy, and flavorful. Continue reading →

This is an amazingly rich, spiced rice casserole with beef called pilau that I like to serve with a raw mango salad. This dish is a complete combination of my mom’s traditional recipe and my technique. Continue reading →

This sweet apple couscous recipe is healthy and delicious – combining a warm, buttery apple pie filling and light, fluffy, sweetened couscous and topping it with thin, crunchy almond slices. Continue reading →

A luscious milk pudding infused with the juice of pomegranates, thickened with rice flour and scented with rose water is a delicious Sephardic tradition with roots all over the Middle East and North Africa. This is fantastic as a break fast dish for the Jewish holidays. Continue reading →