Notes about Recipes in this book

• Goldie falafel

  • inflytur on December 24, 2018

    Wonderful textures: pillowy interior that isn’t mushy and a crispy exterior. I used my smallest scoop to portion out for frying.

• Pita bread

  • inflytur on December 25, 2018

    Couldn’t be easier and my house smells wonderful from the baking pitas.

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Fairly easy. Quite good, though I should have rolled it flatter.

  • NoaBC on November 11, 2025

    I converted the volumetric measurements to grams and this was a really wet dough, very difficult to handle. Maybe they scoop rather than spoon their flour because the gram ratios seem very different to other recipes I've seen.

• Making sabich

  • MelMM on February 08, 2019

    2-7-2019 This isn't exactly a recipe, but more of a discussion about what goes into sabich. Recipes are given for some eggplant preparations, and for amba. I read this chapter about sabich, then put it together as I saw fit. Quite possibly the best sandwich I've ever eaten. Move over, falafel.

• Classic mango amba

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Pretty easy; good.

• Strawberry amba

  • jenburkholder on June 10, 2024

    Went very well on the sabich, good use of fresh strawberries.

• Cauliflower shawarma

  • ChefsMilson on January 05, 2025

    Flavor was great but the cauliflower was overly salty. We’re going to try a brine with less salt next time (another brined cauliflower recipe we looked at suggested a much lower salt ratio).

• 5-minute hummus with quick tehina sauce

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Super easy. Good but not great.

  • purrviciouz on May 16, 2020

    Extremely smooth hummus without being fussy.

  • lean1 on May 22, 2020

    incredible taste and flavor. My son said it was like being in Israel!

  • mharriman on May 28, 2020

    I made this for another recipe in this cookbook and made half a batch. Mine seemed a little dry but the taste and texture was smooth and similar to dips I had in Israel last year. Next time I’ll add a bit more ice water.

  • AndieEats on October 17, 2021

    We've been using black chickpeas (what we had on hand), which results in a less smooth final result which we don't mind. Also have adjusted to use about 3/4 the amount of tahini for personal taste.

  • jenmacgregor18 on January 18, 2023

    Better than anything at the store. Very creamy. I did use the whole clove of garlic. It wasn't overpowering. I used the recommended Soom tahini, which is delicious. I'll never buy another brand again. Every brand that I've ever tried from the grocery store has been bitter and greasy. Soom is fantastic.

• Black harissa: black garlic chile sauce

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Easy, good.

• Red bell pepper spread (Muhammara)

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Good and easy; reminds me of romesco.

• Tehina chicken salad

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Fairly easy; pretty good. Worth a repeat.

  • mharriman on May 28, 2020

    Mine looked a lot like American chicken salad because my tahina hummus came out very light. The salad tasted and reminded me of small plates I ate while in Israel. I added minced cucumbers to the mix which we liked. Served with pita bread. My husband made his into pita sandwiches. Will repeat.

• Saffron-braised chicken

  • purrviciouz on May 16, 2020

    Incredibly delicious, very easy and comforting. This made 6 servings for us as a main dish, served over a swirl of hummus with bread and dill tabbouleh.

• Avocado with peanut harissa

  • MelMM on February 14, 2019

    2-13-2019 This could be my favorite hummus topping. I make the harissa in the book, but include some preserved lemon and some urfa chile flakes. I do the peanuts in a skillet rather than the oven. This is really, really good.

• Ground chicken with amba

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Quite easy. Pretty good.

• Japanese eggplant with muhammara

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Good and easy.

• Carrots with dukkah

  • purrviciouz on May 23, 2020

    The carrots are okay but the star here is the dukkah. Next time I'd skip the carrots and make dukkah only.

• Broccoli and pine nut pesto

  • MelMM on February 14, 2019

    2-12-2019 Delicious. For the 5-minute hummus, I make half a batch in the Vitamix, and add more garlic, just a whole clove for a half recipe, and more lemon juice. I include the liquid from the chickpeas and don't have to add water. The broccoli pesto is great. For the whole florets, I cooked in a skillet rather than the oven.

• Pan-roasted green beans

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Super easy; quite good.

• Chopped salad

  • mharriman on January 31, 2020

    A simple salad that reminds me of the Middle East because of the mint and parsley. Whenever I long for a light mezzo meal of hummus, pita, and tomato and cucumber salad, I turn to this one or one like it. Worked well for lunch yesterday.

• Grated carrots with chiles

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Good but salty. Not worth a repeat.

• Abe Fisher beet salad

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Fairly easy and makes a beautiful horseradish-beet vinegar as a by-product. Good. Makes a lot.

• Dill tabbouleh

  • purrviciouz on May 16, 2020

    I could eat a scoop of this with every dish in this book.

• Turkish eggplant

  • mharriman on June 04, 2019

    I really liked this side dish. I used smaller regular purple eggplants because that’s what I found at my grocery store, and left out the hot Chiles since my husband and I didn’t want the heat. I also needed only 20 minutes to reduce the sauce of onions/ red peppers in crushed tomatoes. This went well with paprika-rubbed roasted chicken.

• Quick pickled lemons

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Super easy

• Rye bread

  • hirsheys on January 12, 2025

    Not a terribly strong rye flavor, but good texture and taste, especially for such a simple method. The only issue I had was that the bread stuck a lot to the cookie sheet I baked it on. Next time I’m going to try to bake it in a greased loaf pan instead.

• Smoked whitefish dip

  • lorloff on May 17, 2026

    This was easy much easier to do than I anticipated used Zabars smoked white fish what can I say. There is no better. Will be careful to leave it more chunky next time

• Lamb shank siniya

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    The chopped veg just need to be rough chopped, because they’re just for the braising liquid. I used 4 c. Chicken stock and 2 c. Water. The lamb came out super tender! Pretty good.

• Tomato bulgur

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Super easy; good.

• Persian meatballs with beet sauce

  • purrviciouz on May 23, 2020

    Quite delicious although next time I'll get medium sized beets.

  • Kduncan on January 18, 2021

    We weren't huge fans of this. Just didn't come together for us. Made with Yellow rice.

• Chicken wrapped in chard

  • purrviciouz on May 23, 2020

    This was easy although I wouldn't agree that it is quick considering there are a few steps to assemble. It is an impressive dish and very tasty. It took me about 40 minutes to cook the chicken instead of the suggested 25. We will definitely make this again.

• Arabic-style kebabs

  • Lsblackburn1 on June 12, 2022

    These fit the bill if you’re looking for an easy kebab to make and grill. Basic but very tasty on flatbread with tzatziki and grilled onions.

• Ground veal on cinnamon sticks

  • trmarvin on July 09, 2019

    I made this with ground turkey - came out very nice.

• Sirloin shishlik

  • mharriman on February 19, 2019

    Good but not great. For the 22 hours of marinading, the flavors of garlic, dill, and parsley were very mild. The best part was coming home at the end of the day and throwing the sirloin skewers and some vine ripe tomatoes on my stove top grill pan and having dinner ready in less than 25 minutes. Served with orzo and a green salad.

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 12, 2021

    I thought this marinade was delicious. Only used half a cup of oil because a whole cup seemed like a lot! Did on the charcoal grill outside.

• Quick tehina sauce

  • Dannausc on March 07, 2020

    Quick and easy; good.

• Konafi

  • Dannausc on April 03, 2020

    It burned on the bottom and the rest was undercooked. Didn’t turn out great.

• Saffron syrup

  • Dannausc on April 03, 2020

    Super easy.

• Banana-date [ice-pops]

  • mharriman on June 01, 2020

    These are easy to make and delicious. If you like bananas and dates, you’ll like these. I had to fiddle with the way I filled each pop. My minced date pieces (from food processor) sank to the bottom of the batter. I didn’t realize that until I was spooning batter into the third pop. I adjusted my method and filled each mold 2/3 of the way, scooped up the dates and topped each pop mold with them. They immediately sank to the bottom, which is the top of the pop when turned upright; the result is a nice date flavor and texture at the beginning of eating the treat.

• Labneh tart

  • Lsblackburn1 on March 15, 2021

    Yum! I used a different recipe for the crust - his didn’t get baked, which seemed odd to me. I made the filling exactly as written and it was lovely. Put strawberries on top - perfect spring dessert.

• Food in Jars

  Israeli classics, fine-tuned for home cooking. The speedy hummus is excellent, as are the many chopped salads.

  Full review

• Eat Your Books

  Buy this book for the recipes, fall in love with it for the story.

  Full review

• Kitchn

  ...includes step-by-step how-to instructions and detailed close-ups of finished dishes so you can be sure that you're on the right track.

  Full review