Healthy Middle Eastern Recipes

This easy grain bowl has so much to love--sweet potatoes, protein-packed chickpeas, creamy avocado and homemade tahini dressing. Make the full recipe on the weekend and pack into individual serving containers for ready-to-go lunches for work all week.

This brothy stew is boldly flavored with a blend of characteristic Middle Eastern spices and finished with fresh spinach and fiber-rich chickpeas. Economical lamb shoulder tenderizes beautifully when leisurely cooked in a slow cooker. If you can't find boneless shoulder stew meat, do not substitute more-expensive lamb leg--it tends to dry out during slow cooking. Instead, purchase lamb shoulder chops and debone them. Serve over bulgur and accompany with a salad.

This juicy melon salad is seasoned with fresh oregano and thyme, sumac spice and toasted sesame seeds for a bright summertime take on the Middle Eastern spice blend za'atar.

Perfect to pack for lunch to take to work or for a picnic in the park, this vegan bistro box is filled with Mediterranean diet-inspired crunchy vegetables, pita bread, creamy hummus and olives.

A twist on the classic chickpea falafel, these tasty edamame falafels will not disappoint!

It's easy to make hummus at home with just a few pantry items. Serve drizzled with your best-quality extra-virgin olive oil and chopped parsley. Mop it up with warm whole-wheat pita bread or cut-up vegetables.

A platter of herbs, scallions and feta is typically served alongside Persian meals in lieu of a Western-style green salad. They are meant to be folded into flatbread as an accompaniment to a meal (or sometimes as the meal itself). This salad is a riff on that, with pomegranate seeds and cucumbers mixed in.

This beautiful grain bowl is packed with healthy ingredients like quinoa, chickpeas, kale and cauliflower--all drizzled with a lemony tahini sauce. The fast one-bowl meal makes a satisfying weeknight dinner or packable work lunch. If you don't have za'atar, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander.

The crunchy seed topping is the perfect textural juxtaposition to a creamy dressing, soft pears and tender massaged kale salad. Tossing it all with mint, feta and red onion gives it a Middle Eastern flair.

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

This easy grilled chicken recipe owes its tenderness to an overnight soak in a yogurt-lemon juice marinade and its soulful flavor to saffron and onion. A healthy drizzle of saffron-infused butter before serving adds an extra layer of richness. Serve with aromatic rice with pistachios and torshi, Central Asian pickles available at Persian and Middle Eastern grocery stores.

Made with just about any kind of meat, kebabs are classic Iranian street food. Lamb is the predominant red meat eaten in Iran, and its liver is a delicacy. Lemon, garlic and fresh basil nicely balance the liver's mineral flavor.

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.

Mediterranean flavors and fiber-packed ingredients combine for a satisfying and tasty pita-pocket sandwich.

The Arabic word taameya translates to "tasty little bits." This version, made with fava beans, which are plentiful in the Nile delta, is thought by some to be the original falafel. (Recipe adapted from Zooba Restaurant.)

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.

Tuck these tasty chickpea patties into whole-wheat pitas and top with tahini sauce (see associated recipe, below). Be sure to soak the chickpeas overnight for the creamiest mixture. The quick-soak method won't work for these pan-fried falafel patties.

Red cabbage gives this fattoush salad extra crunch. Recipe adapted from New Arrival Supper Club chef Maysaa Kanjo.

John Willoughby helped to launch Cooks Illustrated, was executive editor at Gourmet and has authored several cookbooks, including Big Flavors of the Hot Sun, from which this salad was adapted for a March/April 1995 EatingWell story about olives. It's one of the favorites--chosen from more than 1,000 salad recipes--that we revisited in our 30th anniversary issue.

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.

The sunny fresh flavors of tart lemon and cool mint combine to make a lively dressing that adds sparkle to salads made with steamed vegetables, potatoes or grains, such as couscous.

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.

Caramelized onions add deep flavor to this fast take on the Middle Eastern dish mjadra, a simple vegetarian recipe featuring bulgur and lentils. Serve with a salad of chopped parsley, tomato and cucumber tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.

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.