Healthy Middle Eastern Recipes

This easy Persian-inspired chicken and rice dish has a beautiful golden color and a wonderful fragrance. If you have saffron in the cupboard, do add that optional pinch; just a little will enhance the flavor and aroma of the dish.

Simple steps give this broccoli salad recipe a more nuanced flavor: soaking the onion tempers its bite and toasting the cumin enhances its aroma. Serve alongside grilled chicken, pork or fish.

When roasted in a hot oven, chickpeas become super crunchy. They're a great low-fat substitute for nuts when salty cravings hit.

Inspired by a dish served in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India called "dharan ji kadhi," our rendition studs the tender chickpea-flour dumplings with chiles and greens. Serve with naan to sop up the sauce for a healthy vegetarian dinner with plenty of protein.

Try topping this simple but satisfying vegetable soup with a spoonful of Red Chutney. Recipe adapted from New Arrivals Supper Club chef Naseema Kashefi.

Flavored with turmeric, ginger and garlic, this tahini dip recipe is perfect for dipping vegetables or topping your next falafel.

This creamy and tangy Middle Eastern zucchini dip recipe, also known as Koosa Ma Laban, is best served with baked pita chips or crunchy vegetables.

These cabbage rolls are stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, rice and warm spices and cooked in a savory tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and mint. Topping the rolls with lemon juice just before serving gives the dish a bright flavor. They would make a wonderful centerpiece for a Sunday supper. Read more about this recipe in the accompanying article Making My Grandmother's Cabbage Rolls Connects Me to My Lebanese Heritage.

"Kibbeh" describes dishes made with bulgur, onions and spices. That mixture is combined with everything from tomatoes to goat. It's layered and baked, shaped into balls or footballs, stuffed, deep-fried or eaten raw. This vegetarian kibbeh recipe is made with pumpkin and stuffed with seasoned greens. Sorrel adds a lemony flavor, but you can use chard or kale and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the filling. Use fine bulgur or the texture of the dough will be gritty.

These steamed dumplings are often served with a garlicky yogurt sauce, but chef Naseema Kashefi, of the L.A.-based New Arrivals Supper Club, adds a swirl of tomato sauce to the mantu for a colorful, flavorful counterpoint.

You'll look like an expert with this easy hummus recipe that produces the lightest, silkiest hummus you've ever had. Chilling the cooked chickpeas ensures that when they're blended with the oil and cold tahini the hummus will come out creamy rather than oily. In a pinch, you can use the quick-soak technique (see Step 1), reduce the chilling time and still get great hummus.

The acidity of the yogurt helps tenderize the chicken and keep it moist. If you can't find hot paprika, substitute 2 teaspoons sweet paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne.

Laced with tangy-sweet pomegranate molasses and fragrant spices, this healthy and delicious Persian stew is traditionally prepared for festive occasions. Here we make it with chicken for a quick and easy dinner but it can also be made with lamb stew meat for special occasions. Serve with brown rice to sop up any extra sauce.

A platter of herbs, scallions and feta is typically served alongside Persian meals in lieu of a Western-style green salad. This salad is a riff on that, with pomegranate seeds and cucumbers mixed in. Read more about this recipe.

We're pairing two shortcut products you can likely find at your local specialty grocery store--Middle Eastern bean salad and microwaveable farro--to add protein, fiber and satisfying texture to these high-protein lunch bowls. To cut down on prep time, we're also using preseasoned grilled chicken breasts from the refrigerated section, bottled balsamic vinaigrette and a few other ready-to-use ingredients to make these quick and easy meal-prep lunches.

With all due respect to baklava, we've found a new favorite Lebanese dessert. This rich, moist cake is sweetened with carob molasses and has a hit of anise. We may or may not have fought over it in the Test Kitchen.

Za'atar (or zaatar)--a Middle-Eastern spice blend that's a mix of thyme, sumac, salt, sesame seeds and sometimes other herbs--gives this sheet-pan roast chicken recipe tons of flavor. Chicken tenders and pretrimmed green beans make this healthy dinner super-fast.

Serve this tart, parsley-dominated tabbouleh at your next backyard gathering.

These satisfying vegetarian burgers feature a crispy chickpea patty topped with a creamy tahini sauce. Instead of a traditional burger bun, we use a whole-wheat pita for a fun and flavorful twist.

Cooking chickpeas from scratch is the best way to make your own hummus, but it can take hours to soak and cook them yourself. Enter the pressure cooker. Even without an overnight soak, your beans can be done in less than an hour, making this the ultimate last-minute appetizer option.

Red cabbage gives this fattoush salad extra crunch. Fattoush is a Levantine dish with roots in Lebanon and its defining characteristic is the inclusion of bits of toasted or fried flat bread in the salad. This recipe is adapted from New Arrival Supper Club chef Maysaa Kanjo.

Fattoush is a popular salad in Lebanon made with mixed greens, a lemony vinaigrette and pita bread pieces. Toasting the pita adds crunch and a sprinkle of ground sumac--which grows wild all over Lebanon--adds depth. Let the salad sit for a bit to let the pita soak up the lemony dressing.

Dressed with a tangy lemon vinaigrette and fresh mint, this invigorating—and dairy-free—potato salad makes the perfect summer potluck contribution.

Pureed chickpeas, seasoned with the characteristic flavors of falafel, make excellent veggie burgers. We use a two-stage method for cooking the patties, first browning them in a skillet and then finishing them in the oven. Garnish the burgers with tzatziki or tahini sauce (see associated recipes), pickled red onions, lettuce and tomatoes.