At its most basic, guacamole is made by mashing a ripe avocado in a mortar and pestle with a dash of sea salt until it turns into a thick paste. However, the recipe considered traditional these days will also include additional ingredients such as onions, tomatoes (which same consider not part of the traditional recipe), lime or lemon juice, cilantro, and a spicy component in the form of chile serrano, cayenne, or jalapeño peppers.
The consistency can be either smooth or chunky, depending on personal preference. It is typically served as a dip with tortilla chips or vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, and celery, but it is also equally at home in salads, atop pizzas or pasta, and is used as a condiment in burritos, burgers, tacos, and omelets.
TIME
- Preparation time: 15 min
- Cooking time: 0 min
- Total time: 15 min
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Traditionally consumed for breakfast, this Levantine dish is also enjoyed as a dip or an appetizer, and is also included in mezze, an assortment of small dishes typically served before a multicourse meal. Furthermore, it is a part of other Middle Eastern dishes like falafel and sabich.
Hummus or hummus bi'tahina, at its basic, consists of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and often cumin that are ground and served with a drizzle of olive oil on top and a sprinkling of spices like paprika and/or herbs like parsley.
A few whole chickpeas or pine nuts can also be added as decoration. Hummus ful, on the other hand, is almost identical to hummus bi'tahina, except that it is topped with a fava bean paste.
TIME
- Preparation time: 30 min
- Cooking time: 1 h 30 min
- Total time: 18 h 40 min
Spaghetti aglio e olio is prepared by simply cooking the spaghetti in salted water until al dente and tossing it together with garlic sautéed in lots of olive oil. After plating, the dish can be finished with an optional sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Still, although it's dubbed as the simplest Italian pasta dish due to only four ingredients needed to make it, the technique and quality of ingredients have to be on point if you're going to do it justice.
TIME
- Preparation time: 10 min
- Cooking time: 10 min
- Total time: 20 min
Serve with
The traditional kisir salad variant (typical for northwestern Türkiye) calls for bulgur, garlic, onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, and generous amounts of parsley and dill, all seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil as well as typical Turkish spices, red pepper paste, cumin, and red pepper flakes for a touch of heat.
The bulgur needs to pre-soak before use. Kisir is a refreshing and satiating salad, usually consumed as a snack or a side to barbecued meats. This recipe is adapted from the gastronomy book Turkish Cuisine with Timeless Recipes.
TIME
- Preparation time: 45 min
- Cooking time: 0 min
- Total time: 1 h
A Tuscan summer salad, panzanella is a perfect way to make use of stale bread you have lying around and to use up in-season, ripe ingredients like tomatoes. To prepare, firm, rustic bread, traditionally pan sciocco, an unsalted Tuscan bread, is soaked in water, then torn into crumbles and mixed with tomatoes, basil, onion slices, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
However, unlike in Tuscany, in Marche, this salad is prepared similarly to a bruschetta, where slices of tomatoes are laid on top of bread slices and sprinkled with basil, salt, and pepper, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar.
TIME
- Preparation time: 15 min
- Cooking time: min
- Total time: 15 min
Penne all'arrabbiata (arrabbiata translates into angry), which stems from the Lazio region in central Italy, is a dish comprised of penne pasta and sauce prepared with tomatoes, garlic, and chili peppers. Some sources claim that the authentic recipe also included pecorino cheese, while others differ and believe that the cheese was added later on.
The dish is fairly simple to make. Garlic is minced and softened in an oiled pan. Next, chili peppers are chopped and added to the garlic. Canned peeled tomatoes are blended or chopped, then mixed with the garlic and peppers. Pasta cooked al dente is fused with the ingredients in the pan, then finished off with a sprinkling of parsley and sometimes, pecorino cheese.
TIME
- Preparation time: 3 min
- Cooking time: 20 min
- Total time: 23 min
Serve with
With over 30 different recipes throughout Italy, this famous Sicilian vegetable relish can be easily tailored to match anyone’s taste. Traditionally, caponata is an eggplant-based dish prepared with the addition of tomatoes, peppers, capers, olives, onions, and celery.
However, some recipes also call for the addition of pine nuts, almonds, raisins, or even artichokes or wild asparagus. After being sautéed one at a time, the vegetables are typically seasoned with sugar and left to simmer in vinegar, slowly melting into a tangy medley of sweet and sour flavors.
TIME
- Preparation time: 50 min
- Cooking time: 30 min
- Total time: 1 h 20 min
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Typical of Iran's Gilan province, zeytoon parvardeh is a traditional Persian appetizer that is made with a mix of green olives, pomegranate molasses, walnuts, garlic, pomegranate juice, pomegranate seeds, blue eryngo, locally known as chochagh, angelica seeds, and salt.
Olive oil can also be added, and some recipes will also include mint, coriander, and parsley. It is typically served as part of the mezze platter or as a side dish and cherished for its taste and health benefits, thanks to the antioxidants found in olives and pomegranate and the healthy fats in walnuts.
TIME
- Preparation time: 20 min
- Cooking time: 0 min
- Total time: 20 min
Served either as a breakfast or an appetizer, miso soup or misoshiru reflects the elegance of Japanese cuisine in its purest form. The preparation starts with dashi, a simple broth made from dried or dried and smoked fish (sardines, kelp, and skipjack tuna) or mushrooms (shiitake).
Next, some miso paste — red, white, mixed, or other variations — is dissolved in some dashi. The mixture is then added to the rest of the dashi and brought to a simmering point. The next step is to include solid ingredients such as tofu, vegetables, algae, meat, fish or clams, which are put into the simmering soup until they are cooked or warmed.
TIME
- Preparation time: 2 min
- Cooking time: 5 min
- Total time: 7 min
MAIN INGREDIENTS
There are two ways to prepare falafel — the Israeli version uses chickpeas (garbanzo beans) only, which are soaked in water before being mashed and is typically flavored with parsley, garlic, cumin, and coriander, while the Egyptian version uses either soaked fava beans or fava beans combined with chickpeas, bulgur, and spices.
The falafel mixture is shaped into balls or patties either by hand or with a so-called aleb falafel, a simple kitchen tool resembling an ice cream scoop. Falafel balls or patties are fried in hot oil for a few minutes until golden brown, and if done properly, will have a crispy outer layer and a soft, tender interior.
TIME
- Preparation time: 20 min
- Cooking time: 20 min
- Total time: 12 h 40 min
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