Middle Eastern

A crisp cucumber-and-herb salad makes a light, vibrant topping for this fragrant rice pilaf and golden sauté of chicken, onions, and garlic.

You're bound to get plenty of accolades for this zesty sauce, a Middle Eastern–spiced riff on herby salsa verde.

Toss sweet melon and crisp cukes in a bright coriander-cardamom dressing for a refreshing and delicious summer salad.

This psychedelic Mediterranean-inspired salad marries bright, fresh ingredients with sweet, earthy roasted beets and perfectly cooked eggs. It tastes as good as it looks on the plate, and all the ingredients make for good snacks.

You can serve these flatbreads as is or wrapped around a filling.

Mast, which translates to yogurt in Farsi, is a staple side dish on many Persian tables. The yogurt can be mixed with shallots, grated cooked beets, cooked spinach, or, most commonly, with Persian cucumbers, mint, and dried rose.

Given my very high regard for a grilled naked lamb chop, all juicy and charred, when I do go for something more elaborate, it's got to be worth it. This dish is. Here, the meat is coated in toasted whole spices—fennel, coriander, and cumin seeds—that have been very lightly crushed. The seeds retain their texture, giving the meat both a heady scent and a good crunch. For serving, a tahini-lemon sauce adds a rich nuttiness, while a dash of sumac provides its berrylike tartness.

With fewer eggs than the typical frittata, this Persian egg dish is the ultimate clean-out-the-herb-drawer meal.

A good soak in buttery tomato sauce gives this ultra-juicy burger—a popular late-night Turkish street eat—its name.

This rice dish is based on one of the most famous Persian polos (pilaf), known as sabzi polo.

Cumin and turmeric give this 30-minute vegetarian stew smoky, warming flavor and vibrant, soul-satisfying color.

These warmly spiced lamb meatballs are so juicy, light, and flavorful—not to mention easy—they'll be rocking your party world this holiday season.

Traditionally, baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert, but we fell head over heels for this savory rendition. Roasting coaxes out the earthy magic in hearty root vegetables and fennel, which are then tossed with fresh dill and baked in walnut-layered phyllo until it's golden brown.

This is an overstuffed, saucy little sandwich, but our pita trick in this recipe ensures that the pocket won’t implode while you’re eating it.