Middle Eastern Recipes
307 recipes found
Cucumber and Israeli Couscous Salad
I love this tabbouleh-like mixture because of all the herbs and refreshing flavors, and also because of the nice contrast in textures. Make sure that you cook the couscous until the spheres are tender but not gummy. I have seen package directions that call for too little water; make sure you cook them in twice their volume of water.
Curried Lamb Patties
Yvonne Maffei’s Dates With Cream and Chopped Pistachios
Dates and dairy are ancient staples of the Middle East. This recipe, from Yvonne Maffei, who writes the popular cooking and nutrition blog My Halal Kitchen, combines the two into a luxurious dessert, for Ramadan or other feasts, with very little effort from the cook.
Soused Mackerel With Arabic Spices
Basic Hummus Dip
Since soaking and cooking takes a lot of time, you might want to double this recipe and freeze in small batches with some of the cooking liquid.
Parsley Hummus
I’m convinced that parsley, used so abundantly in the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, is one reason those diets are so healthy. In addition to being an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K and a good source of iron and folate, it is rich in volatile oils (which give it its astringent flavor) and flavonoids. The volatile oils contain components that have been shown to inhibit the activity of harmful elements in the body, and studies have attributed antioxidant properties to the flavonoids, particularly luteolin. It’s important to pick the parsley leaves off the stems, because unlike the stems of cilantro, parsley stems are tough and should be discarded. The leaves reduce quite a bit in volume when you chop them, especially if you chop them fine. Two cups of parsley leaves will yield a little over 1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley. This hummus has a pale green hue and herbal overtones.
Spiced, Gingered Hummus
Matzoh Confection
Zucchini Pilaf With Almonds
Herb Omelet Pita Sandwich
There are other options besides fried falafel or spit roasted lamb to fill a pita. A less well-known filling is an herb omelet, called ejjeh in Lebanese cuisine. This version -- made with lots of chopped parsley, dill, mint and cilantro -- mimics the Persian herb omelet called kuku sabzi. It makes a perfect vegetarian sandwich filling, topped with a salad of chickpeas, chopped cucumber and tomato and a refreshing tahini-yogurt sauce.
Scallion Turnovers
Almond Cookies (Massafan)
Roasted Cauliflower With Tahini-Parsley Sauce
This Middle Eastern sauce goes wonderfully with foods other than roasted cauliflower. It’s traditionally served with falafel and keftes, fish, salads, deep-fried vegetables — or just with pita bread.
Butternut Squash Kibbeh With Spiced Feta
Israeli Couscous Salad, Tabbouleh-Style
Wheat-Berry Tabbouleh
Eaten whole, wheat berries have a strong nutty flavor, making them an earthy alternative to rice, couscous and quinoa. They can be soaked overnight so they’ll cook faster and have a lighter, softer texture, but it’s not necessary. A great way to prepare them is in tabbouleh, as a substitute for bulgur wheat. Suddenly, what is often only a small part of a Middle-Eastern mezze platter is elevated to a main dish.
The Loomi
Tea made from dried limes makes an unusual and aromatic cocktail mixer.
Zvia's Afghan Spice Rub
This blend that I learned from a Manhattan street vendor can be rubbed into beef, pork or chicken two hours before grilling. It also adds a pungent note to tuna, swordfish, bluefish or bass if rubbed onto both sides of the steaks or fillets about an hour before grilling. In either case, the rub can be left on the meat or fish while grilling to make a blackened, seasoned crust. Used as a spice, it can be stirred into boiled rice or summer soups to taste.
Lamb Flatbread With Za’atar
A favorite Middle Eastern street snack is a small freshly baked flatbread, brushed with a mixture of olive oil and za’atar, the flavorful Middle Eastern spice mixture that contains wild thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. It is uncommonly good. For a more complex, pizzalike flatbread, this recipe adds spiced ground lamb and feta, along with a shower of herbs. But if you simply want the plain za’atar version, omit the lamb topping altogether.
Bbulgur Wheat Salad (Tabbouleh)
Fesenjan
This rich, tangy Iranian chicken stew from Azita Houshiar is a highlight of the Persian holiday Shab-e Yalda, a winter-solstice tradition that predates Islam by thousands of years. The chicken is drenched in pomegranate molasses and cooked with a copious amount of ground walnuts, which results in a gravy that is sweet, tart and thick with flavor.
Yogurt Cucumber Relish
Baked Beans With Pomegranate Molasses, Walnuts and Chard
This Iranian-inspired rendition of baked beans is sweetened with pomegranate molasses, which you can find in Middle Eastern markets.
Bulgur Bowl With Spinach, Mushrooms and Dukkah
This is a simple skillet supper, a bowl of bulgur topped with a savory mixture of mushrooms and spinach. It gets a final flourish of dukkah, a Middle Eastern seasoning made with toasted nuts (or in some places chickpea flour), seeds and spices that is as much a snack as it is a seasoning; a favorite way to eat dukkah is to dip vegetables or bread into olive oil and then into the dukkah. There are many versions of the mix. Ana Sortun, a chef at Oleana in Cambridge, Mass., and the author of “Spices: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean,” adds coconut to hers. The recipe for the dukkah makes more than you will need for this meal, but it keeps well (I keep mine in the freezer) and it is great to have on hand.