Yogurt

This is the fan-favorite soup at Dad’s. Sweet, savory, a little salty, a little sour, with a host of beautiful aromatics, it has a lot going on. But it’s one of those recipes where I don’t do everything from scratch. I make my own coconut milk for desserts, but not for soups, where it gets loose and watery. Canned coconut milk typically has guar gum in it, which holds it together when hot. As for the Madras curry powder, my favorite is from Sun Brand. Established in 1876, they’ve had time to dial in their spice blend. I could be brash and say I’ll make curry powder myself, but I’m certainly not going to do it as well. Some things you leave to other professionals.

I created this bread in Israel with Henrietta Lovell, my love. We were invited to do an event that turned out to be a true collaboration, with a lovely man and great chef, Ezra Kedem, in his studio/restaurant, called Arcadia, close to Jerusalem. We paired Ezra’s food with my bread and Henrietta’s iced oolong tea, blended with fresh garden herbs. (If you know anything about Henrietta, you’ll know she is the drinks master, with the most amazing palate. They call her the Tea Lady, but her love and skill extend way beyond tea.)

Arcadia is set on a rural farm, on a beautiful mountainside with spectacular views. The day before the event, I walked around the kitchen garden, totally inspired by what they were growing. I thought that making a rye bread with Ezra’s seasonal farm ingredients was the way to bring our worlds together.

He had a few fig trees on the property, and I wondered what it would be like to line the bread pans with the leaves. It looked amazing and added a great flavor, almost a coconut scent. To make it even more figgy, I’ve added dried figs to this recipe, soaked in tea as a tribute to that day.

Almond flour has been a pantry staple in Paris for as long as anyone can remember. It happens to be less expensive than it is here and, perhaps because of the turnover, usually quite fresh. In the States, it’s still seen primarily as an alternative to flour for people with gluten sensitivity or for the health conscious, who like it for its protein content. Almond flour provides texture and taste, and it keeps a cake moist, as almonds are naturally high in fat. It’s for this reason that I use less oil than in an all-flour yogurt cake. The downside is that almond flour cakes don’t rise quite as high. Made with equal portions of flour and almond flour, however, lets you capture the best of both worlds. This cake is light, tender and moist and lasts for days. Like the classic yogurt cake, it plays well with spices, extracts, liqueur, syrups and floral waters. Here I’ve added sliced almonds to the top, for crunch.

Raw broccoli is a powerhouse salad ingredient, and covering it in yogurt dressing makes for a match made in heaven.

Fatteh, derived from an old Arabic verb meaning “to break bread and steep in liquid,” is a common dish across the Middle East. The base is bread, but the toppings vary from eggplants (aubergines) and chickpeas, to rice and a variety of meats. The sauces are just as varied with some yogurt-based, others tahini-based, and others broth- or lemon-based. Moona, a restaurant in Boston serving up creative Middle Eastern dishes based on pantry ingredients (moona means “pantry” in Arabic), has a version made with mushrooms. The first time I tried the dish, I was skeptical. “Mushrooms?!” I thought. But I was blown away by the flavors and textures. Mushrooms have an earthy, meaty taste that is superbly complemented by the sweet tartness of pomegranate molasses, the crunchiness of the toasted bread and nuts, and the brightness of the yogurt-tahini dressing. Just another example of how pushing boundaries can lead to delicious surprises.

Roast four salmon fillets and saute some spinach, it's as simple-and almost as quick-as that. The salmon on its bed of spinach is also beautiful when served family style on a large platter.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Instead of only iceberg lettuce, try wedging other nutritious salad greens, such as romaine and radicchio.

This dish tastes like health and summer.