• ElianeW on April 16, 2023

  Bought this last year and it's the book I used the most all year. Cooked root vegetable slaw, roast beetroot, lentils and walnuts, slow cooked peppers, briam, chilli-dressed potatoes, cabbage and caraway soup, caramelised onions and baked beans - I don't think I've made anything I didn't like. Recipes are easy to follow and mostly don't involve huge ingredient lists. Highly recommended.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Little za'atar buns

  • snackbaby on June 15, 2025

    these turned out nice! dough was great. I will say I thought they were a little on the doughy side for my taste - next time, I would either cut them thinner for more pieces or just adjust the recipe for 400g flour (or perhaps I do just prefer these as flatbreads?) either way fun to make

• Olive, mint and coriander buns (Eliopites)

  • Mzaz99 on September 18, 2025

    I was worried about the quantity of onions - it seemed like so much onion! but they were deeply delicious. I needed to add a lot more flour to the dough to soak up the water the onions added to the dough. Will definitely make again, maybe with even more mint and olives.

• Fried tomatoes (Galayet bandora)

  • snackbaby on June 15, 2025

    made with fresh tomatoes, outrageously good and perfectly balanced.

• Roast tomato, orzo and rocket salad with roasted garlic dressing

  • willow_vqskrl on May 29, 2026

    We use gluten free pasta and it tastes great

• Charred watermelon and pistachio

  • Apollonia on May 22, 2022

    My dinner guests liked this more than me. I thought the pesto was too thick (the recipe specifically notes it will be, but I still found it a challenge to eat), but everyone else seemed to like it!

• A lip-puckering cabbage slaw (Salatet malfouf)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    fabulous little side dish that goes with everything and lasts a couple of days in the fridge. recipe is a great starting point to whatever crunchy veggies and herbs you have lying around.

• Cooked root vegetable slaw, an addiction

  • Boffcat on June 01, 2024

    I've got into the habit of making a batch of this each week when the veg box arrives - after a short spurt of work to prep the vegetables at the beginning it's hands off, and you transform a pile of inexpensive vegetables into a generous quantity of scrumptious slaw to see you through several meals. It seems to go with just about everything, too, from Middle Eastern dishes to curry.

• Sauerkraut and herb potato salad

  • memberton on August 23, 2022

    Really nice side dish.

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    my favorite potato salad.

• Roast beetroot, lentils and walnuts

  • No1Alicat on May 08, 2022

    Absolutely delicious. I would probably add a little more dressing next time (not too much). And will definitely make this with goats cheese or feta as a main meal. Loved it

  • Pimlicocook on May 28, 2026

    Loved this. Used beetroots cooked to perfection in pressure cooker; used latter for onions and lentils, too, so whole process was speeded up considerably. Served with pan-fried halloumi with a squeeze of lemon, which worked really well. Would make again.

• Green tabbouleh

  • CourtneyT on June 23, 2025

    Nice. Very easy to make and we loved the addition of olives and avocado. Wasn’t as grainy as some tabbouleh can be. I thought it needed some extra salt but check as you go. Definitely worth a try.

• Roasted garlic muhammara

  • Acarroll on July 13, 2024

    The flavors were off but we couldn't pinpoint why. We like muhamarra but will try a different recipe.

• Lemon and coriander marinated olives (Tsakistes)

  • Apollonia on May 22, 2022

    These were a nice looking and reasonably tasty addition to a dinner party spread, but they didn't have much extra flavor with the minimum brine time. They probably need significantly more time to really reach their full potential.

• Garlic sauce 3 (Toum)

  • memberton on August 23, 2022

    This is the second time I’ve made toum, first time with this recipe. As with the first time I made it, you really seem to need the right size food processor to do this. My mini just doesn’t seem to have the right shape. I have to make more than the recipe calls for to get it to whiz around properly… but that’s fine because toum is delicious. It doesn’t stay garlicky and potent indefinitely so share with friends. If your emulsion doesn’t work (as mine didn’t… twice…) you can start again and then slowly add the broken emulsion instead of using fresh oil.

• Lebanese seven-spice

  • memberton on August 23, 2022

    This spice mix was lovely in Maroulla’s spiced courgettes which are also in this book. Combined with the toum in a flatbread I was getting gyro/shawarma vibes from this mix of spices.

• Sweet and sour leeks

  • Apollonia on May 22, 2022

    Lovely little dish, although by the time were soft enough to eat, they were far from the beautiful little rings pictured in the book. They tasted great anyway and were even better the next day.

  • memberton on August 23, 2022

    Really nice, almost jammy side dish.

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    a little on the sweet side for me -- although obviously that's also somewhat the point of the dish, so I don't blame this on the book.

  • et12 on January 15, 2025

    I had one leek left instead of the recommended three and thought I could scale down the recipe, but ended up burning some of the leek. I should have used a smaller pan too. Next time!

• Slow-cooked runner beans with olives (Loubye b'zeit)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    the use of the spices and olives sets this loubye b'zeit apart from from any other version I've tried so far, making it more complex and exciting. absolutely lovely. I can imagine I will be making this one for the rest of my life.

• Briam

  • Boffcat on April 24, 2022

    Very good. Bear in mind that prepping all the vegetables takes quite a while (unless you have a handy sous chef for chopping). I found they took up so much space when raw that I couldn't possibly fit them in one dish, but once cooked down they comfortably fit in a single roasting tray. Took about 1 hour 15 to cook (quicker than the recipe suggests, perhaps because I'd split them between two trays and so they were in a shallower layer).

  • No1Alicat on March 21, 2026

    Needed to turn the oven down to 190 after 30 minutes in my oven because the vegetables were already catching. The finished dish was just okay - slightly bland

• Maroulla's spiced courgettes

  • memberton on August 23, 2022

    Simple but good - great use of garden zucchini. Had with toum and flatbread, very good.

• Deep-fried cauliflower with tarator (Arnabeet)

  • Mzaz99 on September 18, 2025

    Delicious, though I prefer to make this with roasted cauliflower for a simpler and less heavy dish

• Crushed coriander and olive potatoes

  • Boffcat on April 06, 2022

    Simple but good. I used tarragon in place of the fresh coriander, which worked well. I would be a bit more generous with the salt next time - I held back a bit too much, thinking the olives would add plenty of saltiness, but it could have done with an extra smattering of salt flakes to finish.

  • Apollonia on May 22, 2022

    We loved these. They definitely need salt beyond the olives, but otherwise enjoyed as written.

  • anniecc on July 19, 2025

    Amazing. I really liked the combination of coriander seeds and olives. I didn’t use the fresh coriander and the dish was still great.

• Chilli-dressed potatoes (Batata harra)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    delighful and tasty

• Cabbage and caraway soup (Shchi)

  • anne_pvnm70 on March 09, 2026

    One of my favorite soups - love this especially with red cabbage instead of white. Even better the next day.

• Pepper-braised cabbage wedges

  • Boffcat on April 09, 2022

    Good - the walnuts really do enhance it. A half quantity served two quite generously, along with hummus and flatbread (not exactly Romanian classics, but went well together!).

• Wild mushrooms, onions and garlic in wine (Manitaria stifado)

  • TrishaCP on May 03, 2022

    Very good dish. I did find it a bit acidic (may have been that I used the wrong type of wine), so bear that in mind when adding the vinegar. (I added butter at the end to smooth things out.) I used a combination of hen of the woods, pioppino, shiitake, oyster, and maitake mushrooms. The onions took forever to prep, but were absolutely delicious (I used pearl onions).

• Celebration of greens pie (Prassinopita)

  • Mzaz99 on September 18, 2025

    Wonderful filling. I put it in phyllo in the style of the pumpkin pie in this book, with sesame seeds between the layers of dough, and it was also excellent.

  • katmagdunn on March 08, 2026

    One of my absolute stand by recipes. I make it with shop puff pastry honestly

• Pumpkin and raisin pie with harissa (Kolokithopita)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    this is fun to make, easy to prep in advance, can be eaten hot or cold, and is an absolute showstopper. the filling is so good. fabulous recipe.

  • thorson on January 31, 2026

    Don't be intimidated by the filo! I always find handling filo to be challenging and crack and crumble it a bit but it does not matter at all in this recipe. Once assembled you won't know or care. And once you're eating it you won't remember. This is a great recipe and easy and fun to make if you don't fear the filo. One complaint (for which I have subtracted 0 stars). The recipe calls for 300g (10.5 oz) filo but this is far more than is needed. I used one 8oz package (half a box) which so far as I know is a standard size in the US and it was more than enough. I assume maybe 300g is standard elsewhere and thus the measure. Just know that if you have 8oz packs you will be good to thaw just one.

• Houmous soup (Revithosoup)

  • Apollonia on March 31, 2023

    I mean, this is exactly what you think it is, hummus soup. It tasted very good, good enough to make again probably, but it did feel a bit like sitting down to a bowl of (tasty) watery hummus. The garnishes help with that, so don't skip them.

• Roasted squash, lentil and coriander soup

  • jessica_qyreaf on April 12, 2026

    Quick and easy and flexible. Served with lots of lemon juice and fresh cilantro on top.

• Black-eyed beans, chard and lemon

  • tui on January 19, 2023

    This is absolutely delicious.

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    so good, and very easy to make! the lemon is super important in this dish

  • jenmacgregor18 on December 26, 2023

    This is simple to make and so much more than I thought it would be. Very good. I subbed oregano for dill and added some red pepper flake.

• Caramelised-onion baked beans (Prebranac)

  • Boffcat on April 24, 2022

    Seriously good - hard to believe you can get such a delicious dish from so minimalist a set of ingredients. I found 750ml to be a bit too much liquid, so might reduce next time.

• Slow-cooked beans and garden vegetables (Fasoles)

  • tarae1204 on June 18, 2022

    Although the point of the recipe is to slow cook a pot of beans and simple vegetables, I adapted it to my instant pot for 30 minutes with natural release, and the beans were cooked through. The recipe calls for one teaspoon salt and doesn’t give an exact water measurement. I used 7 cups water and 1.5 teaspoons salt. The water quantity worked fine. It did need more salt, however — probably 2 teaspoons total would’ve been a better starting point. It also benefitted from table side garnish of lemon and olive oil. The final dish is as it sounds: very simple and clean in flavor, and a little too restrained for my own taste.

  • CourtneyT on February 16, 2024

    I cheated and used Bold Beans and my slow cooker, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. We both really enjoyed the classic simplicity of this stew. It was very comforting and down to earth. It was also a great way to use up the random vegetables knocking around in the fridge. I will definitely make again.

• Aubergine and chickpea stew (Maghmour)

  • Boffcat on April 06, 2022

    I found this a bit flat. Frying the aubergines in batches was a real faff, too, and the large pieces took a long time to become meltingly soft - if making again I would roast the aubergine for ease.

  • Lalados on May 21, 2022

    A tasty dish, agree that frying the aubergines takes time, I probably didn't fry them for as long as I should have but simmered the final mix for longer so they absorbed a lot of flavour and had that lovely soft, silky texture. I used 1 heaped teaspoon of Aleppo pepper instead of the cayenne, good quality Italian tinned tomatoes and alot of chopped parsley and mint to finish.

• Jewelled moutzentra

  • anniecc on May 13, 2023

    This was good but not great. I halved the recipe which was ideal for dinner for two. I would have appreciated if the author had been more specific about quantities e.g. weight of onions, guidance on how much salt to add, how big a bunch of parsley. I found myself adding extra olive oil, salt, lemon juice at the table.

• Apple, brown sugar and cinnamon cake (Milopita)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    I've made this two times, and both times it went down a treat. i did reduce the sugar by quite a big because I found it very sweet (also due to the apples I had, probably). it stays fairly moist in the middle, but in a rather nice way.

  • CourtneyT on October 09, 2025

    I made this exactly as written and it’s absolutely delicious. Very straightforward, easy recipe and a delightfully moist creation. Recommended!

  • Mz44 on November 13, 2025

    I also made this as written. Perhaps my apples were just too big, but this didn’t turn out at all… It was just slabs of apple with bits of batter that never really cooked or cohered.

• Fenugreek cake (Helbeh)

  • snackbaby on July 02, 2023

    excellent pantry recipe for when you want to make something a bit different. taste is interesting and complex.

  • London_Mummy on October 30, 2025

    I made this fenugreek cake earlier this year, out of curiosity. It has a unique & distinct flavour which not everyone will like, & is not too sweet. Fenugreek is said to be beneficial for breastfeeding mothers, so I would make this again, but only as a gift for a nursing mother.

• Jordanian coconut semolina cake (Hareeseh)

  • London_Mummy on March 21, 2026

    This is a good recipe. I thought there would be way too much syrup & that it would be too sweet but I was wrong. Instead of decorating it with whole almonds, I used some flaked almonds & glacé cherries which needed finishing. It tastes quite like an old-fashioned coconut macaroon. 180'C oven was slightly too hot. I started it at 170'C in my fan oven (that temp usually works well) but later had to lower it to 160'C.

• Tahini, almond and honey cookies (Tahinobiskoto)

  • Boffcat on April 24, 2022

    Very quick and easy to whip up, and we really enjoyed them. Mine didn't spread in the oven, so I'd squash them flatter next time.

  • Apollonia on April 02, 2023

    Super quick and easy--- a great kids project for those reasons--- and they tasted great. As with Boffcat, mine didn't spread much, so I would squish flatter and also roll in sesame, rather than sprinkle

  • anniecc on May 08, 2023

    These were excellent, although you definitely need to like the flavour of tahini. Just the right level of sweetness for me. They were also super easy to make. I might be tempted to add lemon or orange zest next time.

• Rose rice pudding with roasted strawberries (Erene's rizogalo)

  • Apollonia on May 22, 2022

    This was mixed for us. On the plus side, the rose + vanilla combo was lovely, and the strawberry topping divine. Less nice was how sweet it was--- honestly toothachingly so for me--- so if I make again, I'll be cutting the sugar significantly. The recipe also recommended coconut drinking milk. It was ok, but the taste competed with the rose and vanilla, so I would use a more neutral plant or cow milk if it need not be vegan.

• Roasted apricot compote

  • mllamas on June 29, 2022

    I used about 1/3 less sugar and it was still super sweet (and totally delicious)