From Better Homes and Gardens

Ready in about 25 minutes. Orange and honey blends with the spices to create excellent flavor in this easy chicken recipe.

Lebanese Chicken

From Better Homes and Gardens

During Hanukkah in some Israeli communities, vendors sell these filled buns, known as sufganyot, by the basketful.

Sufganyot

From Better Homes and Gardens

Tandoors are clay ovens used to roast chicken, meat, or vegetables. The "tandoori" food is typically marinated before cooking for added flavor and moisture.

Tandoori Chicken

From Vegetarian Times

If you like the deep-fried chickpea patties in Mediterranean restaurants, you'll love this lighter version. Pair them with a crisp, slightly fruity rose or white wine to complement the dried spices in the mix. Serve with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and warmed pita rounds.

Homemade Falafel

From Better Homes and Gardens

This classic Greek dessert is renowned for its layers of paper-thin phyllo and cinnamon-walnut filling all drenched with a honey syrup.

Baklava

From EatingWell

The acidity of the yogurt helps tenderize the chicken and keep it moist. If you can't find hot paprika, substitute 2 teaspoons sweet paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne.

Turkish Chicken Thighs

From Food & Wine

Hummus can do more than cling to a carrot stick. Grace Parisi's sublime version adds nutty flavor to potato salad, eggs and soup.

Easy Hummus with Tahini

From Better Homes and Gardens

Harness the decadent flavors of baklava, a classic Middle-Eastern dessert, in a tiny, bite-size tart.

Baklava Tassies

From Better Homes and Gardens

Bulgur or cracked wheat is a Middle Eastern staple. This vegetarian melange of grain, fruits, and vegetables is satisfying and boasts a preparation that's simplicity itself.

Middle Eastern Bulgur-Spinach Salad

From Fine Cooking Magazine

Apricot & Pistachio Baklava with Orange-Cardamom Syrup

From Food & Wine

At Canlis, Jason Franey serves lamb two ways (as a ragout and as chops) with two sides (potato puree and Israeli couscous). But the ragout and couscous are amazing on their own, and less work to make.

Lamb Ragout with Olives and Peppers

From Fine Cooking Magazine

Seared Strip Steak with Lemony Couscous Tabbouleh

From Food & Wine

Lavash can be a soft flatbread, but Jessamyn Waldman developed this recipe based on Armenian-style lavash, which is very crisp and dusted with seeds or spices.

Lavash Crackers

From Food & Wine

Tahini, the creamy Middle Eastern sesame-seed paste, is the ingenious base for the dressing on this bold-flavored salad. The dressing would be terrific with any number of peppery greens, like escarole, watercress, or celery leaves.

Parsley Salad with Pine Nuts and Lemon-Tahini Dressing

From Food & Wine

A Syrian version of comfort food, kibbe (Middle Eastern stuffed meatballs) are braised in a supersimple, tangy yogurt sauce, a staple of Syrian cuisine. "Many Syrian cooks do not flavor the yogurt," Anissa Helou says, "but I prefer to lift it with herbs and garlic." She also suggests swapping in a few teaspoons of dried mint in place of the cilantro. Be sure to use very fine bulgur wheat, she adds, or else the kibbe mixture will be too coarse and hard to shape.

Kibbe in Yogurt Sauce

From Food & Wine

Ana Sortun sprinkles house-made flatbreads with za'atar, the Middle Eastern blend of sesame seeds, herbs, and sumac. She serves it with a salad of spinach, peas, cucumbers, and lettuce, mixed with yogurt-like Lebanese lebneh. Bake store-bought pizza dough with za'atar, and make a simpler version of the salad with Greek-style yogurt.

Za'atar Flatbreads with Cucumber-Yogurt Salad

From Better Homes and Gardens

For these dinner kabobs, a savory ground lamb mixture is shaped into logs, skewered, and grilled, then served with a refreshing cucumber sauce.

Lebanese Lamb Kabobs

From Better Homes and Gardens

This dish, popular from Athens to Zanzibar, is fast, easy to make, high in fiber, and can serve as a side dish or appetizer.

Middle Eastern Salad Plate

From Fine Cooking Magazine

This refreshing pasta salad, with its cool flavors of mint and cucumber, is a nice accompaniment to barbecued meats and a welcome contribution to a potluck.

Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Mint, Cucumber, and Feta

From Food & Wine

Before opening Zahav restaurant in Philadelphia, chef Michael Solomonov visited hummus parlors all over Israel trying to find the best recipe. "Hummus is the hardest thing to get right," he says. "It has to be rich, creamy and mildly nutty." To make his hummus luxuriously smooth, he soaks the chickpeas overnight with baking soda to soften them. While Americans now flavor hummus with everything from pureed red peppers to fresh herbs, Solomonov says among the fanciest garnishes you can find in Israel are whole chickpeas, paprika, and lemon-spiked tahini, used for hummus masabacha.

Israeli Hummus with Paprika and Whole Chickpeas

From Food & Wine

Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern salad typically made with bulgur (dried and ground or crushed wheat berries that are parboiled). Here, warm brown rice takes bulgur's place.

Nutty Brown-Rice Tabbouleh

From Food & Wine

This fresh-flavored, spicy recipe calls for both chicken breasts and thighs and a good deal of spices, added slowly as the dish cooks. Use only chicken thighs and add the spices all at once to cut back on the cooking time.

Green Chicken Masala

From Better Homes and Gardens

A tomato, garlic, honey, and herb relish accompanies this grilled chicken and vegetable kabob main-dish recipe.

Middle Eastern Chicken Kabobs

From Vegetarian Times

30 minutes or fewer. Canned black soybeans, high in protein and fiber, replace the traditional bulgur. Combining them with crunchy, high-fiber fresh veggies makes a perfect lunch.

Black Soybean Tabbouleh

From Food & Wine

Rajat Parr braises succulent lamb shoulder in Syrah, then adds kalamata olives and dried sour cherries that he's soaked in red wine. The unusual combination makes the sauce deliciously sweet and savory.

Syrah-Braised Lamb with Olives, Cherries, and Endives