Mediterranean

My aunt Phoebe’s late husband, Uncle Samy, was a passionate cook who had a knack for turning the simplest ingredients into a meal. This five-ingredient chicken was one of his signature dishes that my cousins and I always looked forward to.

The key to perfecting this dish is to make sure the onions are cooked down and caramelized to a deep golden brown, while being careful not to burn them. Just watch and toss the onions around, managing the heat until they are ready.

Here I serve it over a big salad with blocks of feta, bread, and a bowl of Torshi (page 261). If Uncle Samy saw it this way, he’d teasingly say I ruined it with all the embellishments, and we’d have a big laugh. Every time I make this chicken, I think of him.

I think there's something so enjoyable about eating this way, whether for dinner, snacking, or sharing plates. While I love more traditional nachos, I tend to lean more to this flavor proflle, which means it's essentially all my favorite snacking foods on one giant plate. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but please forge ahead as you're mostly piling a ton of delicious ingredients on top of each other. Pita chips can be made one of two ways: Either peel apart the two layers of the pita for thinner chips, or keep them as is for thicker ones. Here we're going for thicker chips that can hold up to the toppings.

Fishcake recipes are always handy, featuring ingredients from the pantry. In Malta, similar patties are also made with corned beef. I like to serve these with plenty of lemon and a salad of iceberg lettuce. They are also nice eaten cold and can be added to a platt Malti.

In college, when I tried to make lentils for the first time, I undercooked them so severely that I immediately wrote them off. When I finally got the courage to try again, I realized that, honestly, I just didn’t really like lentils that much, even when they were properly cooked. Then one day I saw a recipe that called for black lentils and I was so taken by their striking, caviar-like appearance I was willing to give lentils another go. I am so glad I did because black lentils are truly the lentils for people who, like me, found all others to be a yawn. They cook quickly, hold their shape, and have an earthy, full-bodied flavor, almost like black beans.

When it’s mid-summer and too hot to even think about cooking, make this

soup. Toss a handful of things in a blender and, before you know it, you have

something cool and refreshing yet surprisingly satisfying. The latter is thanks

to tahini, the sesame seed paste that’s most commonly used to make hummus.

It lends creaminess and nutty flavor but, more importantly, it adds a bit of

protein and healthy fat, which turns this chilled soup into a light meal. My

favorite part, though, is the crispy spiced chickpeas. They also add protein

but, really, they’re there for the textural contrast they give every spoonful.

Just be sure to make them right before you serve the soup, as they’ll lose their

crunch if made too far in advance.

I’m a little obsessed with bean gratins. These cozy make-ahead suppers (or side dishes) are satisfying and economical, and they can take as little as twenty minutes to get into the oven. This Mediterranean-inspired version relies on a handful of ordinary ingredients—cooked beans (from scratch or a can), sautéed onions, sausage, canned tomatoes, and parsley—but somehow it all bakes up into one of those dishes that I can’t get enough of. It seems to get better with every bite, especially if that bite includes some of the crunchy bread crumb and cheese topping.

A deeply savoury börek filled with rice, sultanas, pine nuts and chard. It is baked as a large pie rather than as small pastries, making it ideal for a lunchtime gathering. The fleshy sultanas give it a lovely sweet note. Yufka pastry, often for sale in Turkish/Mediterranean shops, is slightly thicker than filo pastry and usually comes in generously sized sheets; if you can find it, buy it.

Not an authentic keftedes recipe, but (a hugely popular) one I developed for my half pescatarian family. It combines the Greek love of fritters and meatballs with mustard sauce – a common addition to souvlakia or gyro.

They know us by name at Mr. Gyro’s here in Seattle. I love its falafel sandwich and the kids all love the chicken gyro. For dinner one evening, I completely wowed my family by making my own version of their favorite takeout. It has since been requested for birthdays and dinners on a regular basis. The whole thing freezes beautifully, so consider doubling the recipe while you’re going through the process. This recipe usually lasts us a couple of meals. Fried up in the morning with a side of soft scrambled eggs is our favorite.