Middle Eastern

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The fine bulgur in this recipe might seem like a specialty ingredient, but it is actually in most supermarkets, near the rice, under the name Near East Taboule Wheat Salad Mix (you won't need the seasoning packet). Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 2 hr

I like using Israeli couscous for this dish, although pearl barley may be substituted. This couscous is quite starchy and should be rinsed after cooking.

(Haj Pesteh) Peeling the pistachios really enhances the green color of these cookies—pistachio skins can be dark purple and may muddy the resulting color. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Joan Nathan's The Foods of Israel Today is full of intensely flavored recipes, such as this salad. Grab a copy now, while so many fresh vegetables are available.

Koosa Claritas — pale green, slightly rounded zucchini — are traditionally used in this dish, but we find that yellow zucchini make for a more attractive presentation because they don't discolor when cooked in tomato sauce.

Nuts, lemon juice, and fresh herbs punch up this terrific side dish.

A growing interest in Middle Eastern food, spurred most likely by the vegetarian movement, brought tabbouleh to the attention of many Americans. It was often served as a side dish at health food restaurants.

The manly art of grilling reached its first peak in this decade, as dads stood by their Webers, stoking the fire and pulling dinner from its clutches while moms did the shopping and cleanup. Besides burgers and wienies, people loved to make shish kebab. Today, grilling knows no gender, and skewers remain a handy way to prepare small foods. Experience has taught us that the vegetables are best cooked separately, or not at all—as this hot-cold, tender-crunchy wonder of a sandwich illustrates.

If you don't have time to make your own hummus, buy some at the market or specialty foods store, and mix in chipotle chilies and cumin to taste.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Moroccan Lamb Kebabs.

Salatat Baqduness wa Bassal This salad is common throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean from Turkey to Egypt. It is always laid on the bread on which grilled meat and poultry are served. In Turkey the salad is seasoned with only sumac; in Egypt, with lemon juice; and in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel it is seasoned with both. A chef friend of mine, Sami Tamimi, whose recipe this is, taught me to soak the sliced onions in boiling water for a few minutes before using. This softens them slightly and, more significantly, takes away some of the sharpness. Be sure to dry the onions well before adding the seasonings.

Tah-dig—the crunchy crust of rice on the bottom of the pot—is considered by many to be the prize of Persian rice. Here it is rivaled by the surprise of pistachios, whose natural sweetness is brought out by the dill.

Roasted eggplant spreads and salads come in many variations throughout Greece and are usually embellished with local flavor. In the North, yogurt is often added to the eggplants, for example, throughout the Cyclades, it is the ubiquitous caper and tomato that season this delicious dish.

You could also serve it on its own with crackers or bread, or offer it as a relish for grilled chicken or fish. It can be made with black olives as well as with green.

In this take on a classic salad, we combine bulgur with the usual tomatoes, green onions, parsley and mint, then add garbanzo beans and broiled lamb for a change of pace.

In this modified version of the Middle Eastern garbanzo bean dip, yogurt is used to replace some of the high-fat tahini (sesame seed paste). The dip is great with fresh vegetables or toasted pita bread wedges. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Eggs are a staple of the Turkish diet. An ingredient in many dishes, they are also prepared on their own as a main course for lunch or as an appetizer for dinner. Here they are poached, set on a bed of yogurt (another staple) and drizzled with a red pepper-sage butter. The red pepper that fires up Turkish cooking - a cross between paprika and dried crushed red pepper - is much more popular than black pepper, especially outside the large cities.