I’ve always been a very obedient student. When I took on this journey to learn all about Middle Eastern food, I knew I’d follow directions. Unlike everything else that I ever cook–ever–I’ve been going by recipes and formulas from Yotam Ottolenghi, Claudia Roden, Louisa Shafia so far. You can’t break the rules ’til you know them. Yet […]
Big Girls Global Kitchens
Sabich Sandwich
Do you ever go to a falafel joint and not order a falafel? Me neither. It’s too hard, like going to Shake Shack and skipping the ShackBurger. As a happy medium, at the falafel place I’ll occasionally add an extra ingredient to my sandwich: fried eggplant. I love eggplant, always. When fried, the slices adds […]
Smoky Red Lentil Burgers
Have you ever kept a dinner journal? Even though this blog is technically an account of what we’ve eaten, I don’t capture all of our humble everyday meals here–that’d be a repetitious and poorly lit project. But I love the idea of writing down what we’ve had for dinner. Not because I’m some insanely sentimental […]
Muhammara, Za’atar, and Grilled Cheese
This post begins and ends with muhammara. Muhammara is a Middle Eastern dip that’s rich, sweet, spicy, and tangy. I’m always looking for unusual dips, preferably one whose ingredients come from the pantry, and muhammara fits the bill. Looking to other cultures is one of my tried-and-true ways of branching out in the kitchen. For […]
Vegetarian African Peanut Stew
I never realized that my tendency to overbuy at the farmers’ market was a hereditary condition. If you open my mother’s refrigerator at any given time, you’ll probably find a bunch of chard, just waiting to be turned into a green soup. But just one bunch. Not three. It wasn’t until I visited my aunt […]
Chicken Tikka Masala
OTHER INDIAN SPECIALTIES: Chana Bateta; Free-Form Samosas; Potato-Pea Masala with Cilantro-Mint Chutney In high school, we had a few restaurant eating traditions. If we ventured below 14th Street, it was for pad thai at Republic or dragon bowls at Angelica’s Kitchen. If we went east, it was probably for an Americano Panini at Via Quadrono, […]
Small Kitchen, Gluten-Free: Baked Falafel with Tahini Aioli
Gluten-free living is short on quick, portable lunches. It’s not like the corner deli can offer to put your sandwich filling inside an arepa. Luckily, in New York, for every corner deli, there is also a freakishly fragrant halal truck sitting right outside its door. As I mentioned in my guide to eating out gluten-free, […]
Big Girls, Global Kitchens: Green Harissa Salmon
OTHER BGSK MOROCCAN FAVORITES: Merguez and Chard Tagine; Moroccan Chickpeas; Fish Tagine with Chermoula, Preserved Lemon and Mint I have a bit of an obsession with Taim, a little hole-in-the-wall falafel place in the West Village. Their falafel might be the best in the whole city. They are also gluten-free, which is a huge win. […]
Big Girls, Global Kitchens: Southeast Asian Shrimp Paella
OTHER GLOBAL HYBRIDS: Moroccan Bouillabaisse; Soba Noodles with Kale, Parmesan, and Walnut Sauce; Austrian Breakfast Tacos Throughout our many book appearances and Q&A’s, both online and off, one of the most popular questions people like to ask us is about our process: how do you come up with your recipes? Where do you get your […]
Big Girls, Global Kitchen: Cacik
My senior year in college, I took a week off from classes to go to Turkey with my family. Just weeks before, I’d come home from my actual spring break–that was the trip to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, when Phoebe and I first made fish tacos together for the masses. Turkey was a different kind of […]