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 →

Smoky, earthy, juicy lamb burgers with mint and chili pickled cucumbers on a gorgeously toasted bun is the perfect summer bbq food. 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 →

Olives, stuffed with a harissa-cheese filling, breaded and fried, make the perfect crunchy, briny snack or hors d’oeuvres. 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 →

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 →

Pastilla is a delicious Moroccan sweet and savoury pie with pigeon, cinnamon and almonds. Here’s a recipe for a slightly different and elegant incarnation of it as a pastry-wrapped chicken terrine. Continue reading →

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

Most people know about panzanella or Tuscan bread salad, which is made from crusty Italian bread mixed with tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and basil. But Tunisian bread salad or even Mediterranean bread salad (similar) is less well known and equally (if not slightly more…) tasty. 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 →

Harissa, a Tunisian chili paste, makes a delicious marinade, salad dressing base, or sauce. Making it at home is not only cheaper than buying the pre-fab stuff at the grocery, it’s easy to do and, even better, you get to control the heat level. Continue reading →

Inspired by Middle Eastern grape leaves, delicate squash blossoms stuffed with a subtly-spiced, flavorful rice mixture and baked to lightly-crisped perfection serve as an elegant and healthy alternative to the typically fried versions. Continue reading →

This is a beautiful, seasonal side dish incorporating an ancient grain called freekeh and mixed summer squash from the greenmarket drizzled with warm, nutty brown butter. Continue reading →

Preserved lemons are an incredibly distinct and subtle ingredient used in North African, Middle Eastern, and even certain East Asian cuisines. Continue reading →