Aside from friends and family, the thing that I miss most about living in Metro Detroit is Middle Eastern food.  As the largest population of middle-easterners outside of the Middle East, most local Detroit area markets carry classic Middle East ingredients, and it is easy to pick up containers of hummus, tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, and mujadara to eat with fresh daily-baked pita bread distributed throughout town.  Unfortunately, not every grocery store across the country stocks these things.  I’ve added a couple of recipes to my arsenal to help combat my cravings.

Almost all of the ingredients for these recipes are available at local grocery stores.  The two ingredients from these recipes that may be difficult to find on the road and which I keep in my pantry are pomegranate molasses and sumac.  In a pinch, you can buy these on Amazon.  In addition to these specialty ingredients, I have tahini (sesame paste) in my pantry, which is handy for making extra creamy hummus, a simple sauce for dipping, or roasting vegetables. 

I don’t always follow recipes exactly, but three recipes I use as guides are Saveur Magazine’s recipe for Kafta: https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Kafta-Lebanese-Beef-Kebabs/ (April 2011), Bon Appetit’s recipe for Fattoush: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/fattoush (May 2012) and the New York Times Sam Sifton’s recipe for Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017161-oven-roasted-chicken-shawarma.

Need some ideas for modifying these recipes?

We grow tired of eating lettuce.  In place of a lettuce-based Fattoush salad, I mix bite-sized chunks of Persian cucumbers, white or red onion, tomatoes, bell peppers (we prefer red, orange or yellow), radish, green onions and chopped parsley with Bon Appetit’s Fattoush salad dressing. 

With the salad made as above without the lettuce, it will keep in the refrigerator for several days.  To change this up for another meal, you might:

• add some romaine lettuce
• top it with some pita chips
• mix in some feta cheese or kalamata olives or both
• mix in some leftover rice, rice pilaf, or orzo
• add some grilled chicken or leftover shawarma
• add in all of the above for a meal on its own

Brian and I both love the additional flavor that comes from using ground lamb in place of ground beef in the recipe for the Kafta.  You might try the same or use half beef and half lamb.  In any case, I never skewer the lamb, as suggested in the recipe.  I form into 2-3 ounce football-shaped loaves that I grill or pan-fry.

I’ve yet to modify the recipe for the chicken shawarma other than cooking it on the grill or the stove in a cast-iron skillet.  I suppose it would also work with chicken breasts but you won’t need to cook it as long.  If you want to cheat, you can buy pre-marinated chicken shawarma thighs at Trader Joe’s.  They aren’t as good as NYT’s version, but they are tasty and can make for a quick and easy meal.

I’m sure one of my first stops back in Detroit later this year will be at a little Lebanese place on a corner somewhere with pita bread fresh from the oven and lots of garlic sauce.  But until then, I’ll keep making these recipes to keep me from missing home too much.