Middle Eastern
The Easy Way to Make Falafel at Home
Skip the deep-fryer and bake these light, crispy fritters instead.
Baked Falafel With Orange-Tahini Sauce
This healthier falafel dinner brings the Middle Eastern platter home with a tangy tahini sauce and an easy cabbage and tomato salad.
Preserved Limes
If you like lox, bacon, or anchovies, you should thank salt—and time. That's all that it takes to turn supermarket limes into this pleasantly salt-tart-funky pantry staple, the sibling of preserved lemons.
Spicy Lamb Pizza With Parsley–Red Onion Salad
Our homage to lahmacun, the Middle Eastern flatbread.
This Garlic Sauce Is the Secret to Great Lebanese Food
Containing little more than garlic and oil, the Lebanese sauce toum whips up into a bright-white, intensely flavored sauce that begs to be slathered on grilled meat.
Toum (Garlic Sauce)
A spoonful of toum elevates any steamed or roasted vegetable, or pasta or grains—or use it as a dipping sauce for good bread.
The Frothiest, Saltiest, Most Refreshing Drink of Summer
Ayran, a traditional Turkish yogurt drink, is exactly what you need on the hottest days of the season.
The Roast Chicken Upgrade That Will Change Your Summer
It's all about the pita.
Saffron Quinoa with Dried Cherries and Almonds
Saffron rice is an indispensable accompaniment in Persian cuisine, and it tastes just as good made with fluffy quinoa. Crushing and steeping the saffron in hot water brings out its full flavor and color. If you have coconut oil on hand, the naturally sweet flavor pairs nicely with the cherries and almonds.
Springtime for Hummus
This Middle Eastern dip might be a year-round classic, but that doesn't mean you can't customize it to fit the season, too.
Skip Vanilla, Use Rose Water Instead
Cookies, cocktails, roast chicken. Here's how to cook with rose water.
3-Ingredient Flaky Flatbread
Just three ingredients get you more flaky layers than you can count.
Almond Cookies with Cardamom, Orange, and Pistachios
Totally decadent. Naturally gluten-free.
Matzo Ball Soup with Cardamom, Turmeric, and Lime
Bring the taste of Persia to your Seder dinner.
How to Make Anything Taste Like Falafel
Falafel-spiced nuts were just the beginning for this writer, who found a way to make everything—chicken! soup! lentils!—taste like the hottest, crispiest, spiciest fritters in town.
Nancy's Falafel Pistachios
This recipe was inspired by the falafel I ate at the wonderful Arab market in Akko. It was so striking that after asking the falafel man what spices were involved, I went to the spice guy at the same market and requested that he recreate the blend.
Spinach Shakshuka
A tomato-free version of the North African poached egg dish, shakshuka, perfumed with warm spices and dotted with creamy feta cheese.
Brisket with Pomegranate-Walnut Sauce
Tart pomegranate, acting as both marinade and sauce, brings brightness and balance to this rich brisket. A pistachio-mint gremolata adds a touch of herbal freshness.
Basic Tehina Sauce
Use this rich and creamy tehina (also called tahini) sauce to make hummus, or drizzle over meats or vegetables.
Hummus Tehina
We love chef Michael Solomonov's hummus all by itself, but it's also an incredible foundation for any seasonal toppings, from harissa-spiced shaved carrots to spiced black-eyed peas to fresh spring peas and pickled onions.