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A Middle Eastern summer

Author Rawia Bishara’s refreshing dishes for hot days

By Faith Bahadurian
   I seem to go on a Middle Eastern food jag each summer. The cuisine lends itself perfectly to cooling foods for hot days, and to foods that shine at room temperature. In a hot climate, cooking is often done in the cool of early morning, and heating food at night is to be avoided.
   My current go-to lunch is Armenian-style string cheese with nigella seeds (from Fulper Farms in Lambertville) and crunchy Persian cucumbers. I’ll also cycle through bouts of making tabbouleh, and indulging in broiled halved eggplants anointed with olive oil and flat-leaf parsley, so I include some refreshing takes on those dishes below, from a cookbook published in February, “Olives, Lemons & Za’atar.” The book is full of creative recipes, including untraditional dishes like Brussels sprouts with tahini and fried panko crumbs, kale with shallots and tomatoes, and a sumac-scented chicken “pizza.”
   Author Rawia Bishara’s Palestinian-Arab family is from Nazareth, in southern Galilee, and she credits her mother’s “inspired, expressive cooking” with teaching her to “experiment with the traditional, to bend the rules with food.”
   Rawia, whose name means “storyteller,” tells her story through her cooking. “My grandmother always had several ceramic urns filled with fruity olive oil, pressed from the olives my aunts and uncles picked on her family’s land. My mother, too, made her own olive oil, and used the remaining ‘crude’ to make soap. She distilled her own vinegar, sun-dried herbs and fruits, made fresh batches of goat cheese as well as fermented sweet wine, and jarred jewel-colored jams from the bounty of the local orchards.”
   Today, here in the States, Bishara is chef and co-owner of the Michelin-rated and critically acclaimed Brooklyn restaurant, Tanoreen, which opened in 1998. I loved seeing that for many recipes she recommends the use of “Jersey tomatoes.”
   Recipes adapted from “Olives, Lemons & Za’atar” by Rawia Bishara. 2014 Kyle Books
TABOULEH
4 Servings
   Toss this salad just before serving, as it’s meant to be eaten super fresh. If you like more bulgur than parsley, as my father did, you can increase the bulgur, but remember it expands once moistened. I like mine heavy on the parsley, so the proportion here is just right for me. — F.B.
   4 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, freshly chopped
   2 ½ plum tomatoes or 2 medium Jersey tomatoes, chopped
   1 medium red onion or 6 scallions, chopped
   2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
   1 tablespoon dried mint
   ½ tablespoon sea salt or to taste
   Juice of 2 lemons or to taste
   ¼ to ½ cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
   3 to 4 tablespoons very fine cracked wheat (bulgur), picked over and rinsed
   Romaine lettuce, cabbage leaves or grape leaves for serving
   In a large bowl, combine the parsley with half the tomatoes, the onion, fresh and dried mint, salt, lemon juice, oil and cracked wheat. Gently toss to evenly distribute the ingredients. Taste and adjust the lemon juice and salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining tomatoes. Serve over the romaine, cabbage leaves or grape leaves.
   Variations: Nazarenes put a pinch of cumin, Lebanese add extra bulgur (you can double or triple the amount if you like).
EGGPLANT SALAD
4-6 Servings
   3 medium to large eggplants (3 to 4 pounds total), peel on, cut into large dice
   6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing eggplant
   1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
   8 plum tomatoes, cut into small dice, or 3 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into large dice (about 5 cups)
   1 medium green pepper, seeded and diced
   1 medium red pepper, seeded and diced
   1 cup chopped fresh parsley
   ¾ cup Kalamata or green olives, pitted and chopped
   3 shallots, 1 medium red onion or 6 scallions, white parts only, chopped
   6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
   Juice of 3 lemons (about ½ cup), or to taste
   ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
   Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Divide eggplant between two rimmed baking sheets and brush them all over with olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and bake until the eggplants are lightly browned and softened, 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, green and red peppers, parsley, olives, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, 6 tablespoons oil and crushed red pepper, if using. Mix well with a wooden spoon, then taste and adjust the lemon juice and salt. Gently fold in the cooled eggplant, distributing it evenly and taking care not to crush it. Transfer to a platter and serve.
FRIED TOMATOES
4-6 Servings
   This is excellent served with fried fish or falafel, the author advises. It also makes a vegetarian main course with a chunk of Arabic bread (i.e. pita) for dipping into the sauce.
   1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
   1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
   1 tablespoon sea salt
   6 large ripe Jersey or beefsteak tomatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
   1 cup olive oil
   1 to 2 jalapeño chile peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (optional)
   6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
   Juice of 1 lemon
   In a small bowl, combine the cumin, pepper and salt. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the tomato slices.
   Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, gently slip the tomato slices into the pan and fry until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a platter. Reduce the heat to low, add the jalapenos, if using, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the garlic and sauté until soft and golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the remaining spice mixture and cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Return the tomatoes with their juices to the skillet. Add the lemon juice and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve immediately.
Faith Bahadurian blogs at http://njspice.net (also Twitter @njspice).