I swear I do in fact cook things that are not inspired by Middle East (or West Asia, as Parag Khanna has just reminded me would be more accurate to say) and Central Asia. I do! It is also true, however, that I gravitate towards those regions whenever we have guests – I love cooking these dishes, there is a wonderful variety of both meat- and plant-based options and when it comes to brunch specifically, mezze-style food works perfectly for this lazy, late breakfast.

There is anther reason why I wanted to a) cook some Western Asian food today and b) write about it: I must tell you about two cookbooks. First of them is brand new, Sabrina Ghayour’s Bazaar. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I love her previous books, Persiana and Sirocco, and cook from them often. Her latest is is still inspired by Persian and West Asian food (although she has always been rather free with her source material), but only features vegetarian dishes. As an omnivore who tries to eat less meat, this is exactly what I need.

The other book is no longer that new and I believe I mentioned Zaitoun on the blog when it came out. I haven’t had the opportunity to cook from it as much as I would have liked to, so I thought I would remedy that today. Zaitoun is Yasmin Khan’s book on Palestine and its food: in addition to some gorgeous recipes, it also gives you insight into how Palestinians live. I think I like this book even more now than when I got it, as it reminds me so much of my trip to Beirut: there are many overlaps between Lebanese and Palestinian cuisines.

These two books, as well as any of my older favourites or Anissa Helou’s Feast would all be great as inspiration for a Levantine brunch. That said, there are so many online sources these days that you don’t need to buy any cookbooks, if the budget doesn’t allow it or you just would rather not. Personally, I would not make anything too complicated for brunch and therefore prefer recipes that are accessible and if possible, fast. So this is what I made:

1. Labneh. I make my own labneh (yoghurt cheese) by straining organic yoghurt overnight through a kitchen towel. It requires very little effort, tastes wonderful and can be turned into a multitude of sweet and savoury dishes.

2. Mana’eesh. These are small flatbreads topped with zaatar (or cheese or minced meat) that were served everywhere in Lebanon. I made mine (for the very first time) based on a recipe in Zaitoun (there is one in Bazaar as well), mostly because I wanted to use the wonderful zaatar blend I bought in Lebanon: zaatar means both the wild thyme that grows there specifically and thyme-based spice blends more generally. The breads turned out nice enough, but I think I will go easier on zaatar next time, it has A LOT of flavour.

3. Persian Sweet Saffron Breads. I’m not a huge bread maker, but I find some of the West Asian breads pretty easy. It is especially true of these little soft breads from Bazaar that don’t even require kneading. They turned out absolutely lovely and fluffy and one of my favourite things from the brunch. As they are a little bit sweet and have a subtle saffron flavour, they seem to go with everything, be it salty or sweet.*

4. Meatballs. There are meatball recipes in every West Asian cookbook and I especially love lamb meatballs, especially if they contain sour cherries. This time I made my standard version that doesn’t require a recipe. I do have a tip, though: if guests include children, make some of the meatballs rather plain and the rest more spicy for the adults. I added sumac, cumin, ginger, turmeric and a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, worked a treat.

5. Shakshuka. This wonderful brunch dish is another one I no longer use a recipe for, but they are not hard to find. I have written up one version I made, this time I included bits of lamb sausage and preserved peppers and omitted eggplant and feta – the latter because I had labneh that is excellent with shakshuka.

6. Eggplant dip. I have never dared to roast my eggplants on the hob for that smoky flavour mutabal requires. This time, I followed Yasmin Khan’s advice, turned the oven up to 250 degrees and roasted the eggplants until properly charred. And what do you say, the smokiness was definitely there. Compared to Khan’s mutabal, I omit tahini and parsley, simply based on personal preference.

7. Gazan smashed avocados. Barbarian that I am, I was wholly unaware that avocados grow throughout the Gaza Strip and therefore logically, a guacamole-like dip is made there as well. I actually prefer the Gazan version that involves garlic, labneh, lemon juice, olive oil, sumac – and green chilli, which I didn’t use (cannot handle heat, unfortunately). Unsurprisingly, this one is also from Zaitoun.

8. Roast cauliflower. There are many versions of this dish, but my main inspiration has been Samarkand, my favourite cookbook about Central Asian cuisines. I roast the florets with cumin, turmeric and garlic and toss them later with pistachio slivers, pomegranates and tarragon. I highly recommend it.

9. Pearl couscous. You don’t really need it, if you have enough bread. Then again, children usually love it, so it might be a good idea to make some.

As always, I didn’t manage to take any photos of the food, but this time, we had leftovers! So I’ve immortalised them on the cover pic. Have you eaten anything nice lately?

*I’ve spent the entire afternoon eating this bread with meatballs, the aubergine and avocado dips and labneh. I think the purchase of this book can be declared a success for this recipe alone. There’s also a date-stuffed naan recipe that I’m dying to make, but it’s unfortunately much more complicated.