Middle Eastern restaurants vary significantly in type. They range from mall eateries that confine their menus to gyros, souvlaki sandwiches, or platters to upscale white-tablecloth restaurants that serve the breadth of traditional Middle Eastern fare. You’ll also see Middle Eastern family-style restaurants. Many of the upscale restaurants specialize in the cuisine of a specific Middle Eastern country, like Morocco or Lebanon, rather than offering a fusion of cuisines from the Middle East. The Middle Eastern cuisine best known and enjoyed in the U.S. at this point is Greek. Greece is not a Middle Eastern country but, because of culinary similarities, Greek food is often categorized as Middle Eastern cuisine.
The majority of Middle Eastern restaurants in America fall into one of two categories: the sandwich shop or the family-style restaurant. The casual sandwich shop is where you can go to order a gyro, falafel, or shawarma sandwich. Soups, salads, potatoes (fried or roasted), and various dips may be offered as sides. At family-style Middle Eastern restaurants you’ll be able to choose from a full menu of options—appetizers, soups, salads, entrées, and desserts.
As with most ethnic restaurants, the majority of Middle Eastern restaurants are independently owned and operated. However, a few national chains are taking root. Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill has several locations across the country, mainly in California, Colorado, Arizona, and the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic areas. This chain is on a growth curve and features salads and build-your-own entrées, for which you can choose a base, protein, salads, and sauces. Aladdin’s Eatery in the Midwest and Southeast features fast casual Lebanese fare with an Americanized spin. Zoës Kitchen, a walk-up-and-order restaurant where the food is delivered to your table, has locations mainly in the South and the East and offers a healthy Mediterranean-inspired menu. And as small plates continue to grow in popularity, you find a few more upscale restaurants that specialize in high-quality mezze, the Middle Eastern version of appetizers.
As Middle Eastern food has inched its way into our culinary repertoire, you’ll also find some Middle Eastern foods integrated into “American” restaurant menus. It’s common to see gyros and Greek salads on the menus of sandwich shops or family-style restaurants. And several Middle Eastern items, such as hummus, baba ghanoush, feta cheese, and Greek-style yogurt, are stocked in just about every supermarket.
On the Menu
Middle Eastern restaurants represent the cuisines from many Middle Eastern countries, including Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Iran, Morocco, Syria, and more. While there are similarities among the cuisines of each of these countries, preparation methods and seasonings differ slightly. It’s common to see items such as pita bread, hummus, baba ghanoush, and chickpeas on the menu in all kinds of Middle Eastern restaurants. Commonly used spices in Middle Eastern cuisine are parsley, mint, cilantro, and oregano, plus a host of others that are also mainstays in Indian cooking—cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and ginger. Long ago, the Middle East was a major link on the spice route between the East and Europe (the Silk Road), so it makes sense that a wide variety of spices are used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
As with other cuisines, the foods that play a predominant role in Middle Eastern cooking are those that are naturally plentiful in the region—wheat, other grains, legumes, olives, dates, figs, lamb, and eggplant, to name a few. Grains are a big part of Middle Eastern cuisine. Rice, combined with a variety of ingredients to make rice pilaf, is commonly served in Greece and the Middle East, whereas couscous, made with granules of wheat, is indigenous to North African countries. Tabouli, a cold cracked wheat or bulgur salad tossed with raw vegetables and lots of parsley, is most familiar in Lebanese cuisine; however, it is commonly served throughout the Middle East.
Pita bread, or pockets as they’re sometimes called in America, is flat, round, slightly leavened bread. Due to the very hot oven in which it is cooked, steam is created, and the process results in a hollow center. This “pocket” in the bread is perfect for stuffing. Though whole-wheat pita breads are available in most supermarkets, the pita bread served in restaurants is typically made with white flour.
It is common to find stuffed dishes in Middle Eastern restaurants. Probably the best known of these dishes is dolmades, or stuffed grape leaves. You may also see stuffed cabbage or stuffed eggplant on Middle Eastern menus. The stuffings in these foods are usually meat, rice, and/or vegetarian mixtures.
Chickpeas, fava beans, and other legumes are indigenous to the Middle East and, thus, are central to Middle Eastern cuisine. Chickpeas and/or fava beans can be puréed to make falafel or ta’amia. Chickpeas are mashed and mixed with tahini (sesame seed paste or purée) to make the familiar hummus.
Due to the plentitude of olives in the Middle East, olive oil is frequently the fat/oil of choice in this type of cuisine. It is often used in cold dishes. Olives, both green and black, are frequently served. The fact that olive oil is the predominant fat used in Middle Eastern cuisine (rather than butter, which is higher in saturated fat) is good news. However, remember that there are just as many calories in olive oil as there are in equal amounts of butter. (Learn more about olives and olive oil in Chapter 19: Italian.)
There are minimal seafood dishes in Middle Eastern cookery. Lamb is the most familiar protein option, and beef is also served but to a lesser degree. Eggs are used quite a bit in dishes such as avgolemono (soup made from chicken broth, rice, egg yolks, and lemon juice), shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce), and in many variations of omelets.
Milk is not frequently consumed in the Middle East due in part to the high incidence of lactose intolerance. Yogurt is frequently used, however; the same Greek yogurt that has taken this country by storm. Yogurt is served plain or mixed with cucumber, garlic, mint, and/or salt to make a sauce or side dish called tzatziki. Or it may be strained to create labneh, which has a consistency akin to the Greek yogurt you can find in your supermarket. The purpose of yogurt in Middle Eastern cuisine, as in Indian cuisine, is to act as a palate refresher, or soother, after the spiciness of the cuisine. (However, Middle Eastern cuisine isn’t as spicy as Indian cuisine.) Two cheeses, feta and kasseri, are commonly used in Middle Eastern cookery. They may be served alone in chunks or incorporated into appetizers, salads, and entrées, such as spinach cheese pie (spanakopita) or a Greek salad.
Phyllo (also filo or fila), which literally means leaf, is a paper-thin Middle Eastern dough. It is used to make sweet desserts, such as baklava, and dinner pies, such as spanakopita, the well-known spinach and feta cheese dish.
When eating Middle Eastern fare, one of the best strategies for eating healthy is to choose from the plethora of vegetarian options, when possible, as protein portions can be large. Also be on the lookout for fried food and excessive olive oil; you should avoid or limit these. Again, even though olive oil is a healthy fat, the calories add up. Oftentimes, even rice dishes are made with a generous pour of olive oil mixed in, so be cautious.
The Menu Profile
Mezze (Appetizers)
Middle Eastern appetizers, or mezze as they may be called, are traditionally eaten leisurely. This leisurely pace is a good strategy to follow when trying to eat healthy in Middle Eastern restaurants. Several appetizers are high in fat and should be limited: spanakopita, taramosalata, and cheese casserole.
Healthier options are baba ghanoush and hummus, but they definitely aren’t fat free. They contain olive oil and tahini (sesame seed paste), which boost the fat content of these dishes (though these ingredients are mostly healthy fat). You’ll find baba ghanoush and hummus served with pita bread and in small quantities. If you can hold back, eating these in small amounts is fine. Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) are also healthy options, especially when you opt for the vegetarian stuffing.
Soups and Salads
A few soups are common on Middle Eastern menus. Lemon-egg soup, avgolemono, is a regular. It is light and relatively low in calories. If cholesterol is a concern for you, it is best to skip this soup. You might also find lentil, vegetable, and/or yogurt-based soup on the menu, all of which are quite healthy.
There are many salad options. Greek or house salads are lettuce-based with cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, and cheese and olives (both of which are high-sodium ingredients). Don’t forget to order the dressing on the side. You might find fattoush with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and toasted pieces of pita bread. This option might be dressed with olive oil, lemon, and seasonings prior to serving, because it usually marinates for a while. Tabouli, cracked-wheat salad, and tomato and cucumber salad are also regulars on Middle Eastern menus. All of these range from very to relatively healthy, so enjoy.
Sandwiches and Wraps
You’ll find several popular sandwich options on many Middle Eastern menus. The style and toppings of these sandwiches vary, based on the country’s specific cuisine, but the concept is the same: grill the meat (often on a spit), slice it, then stuff or roll it into pita bread and top it with vegetables and sauces.
Gyros meat, hailing from Greece, is a spicy combination of lamb and beef, and is perhaps the most well-known of Middle Eastern sandwiches. It is usually wrapped in pita bread, along with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a sauce called tzatziki. Tzatziki is made either with sour cream or yogurt. When it comes to tzatziki, the best advice is to ask at each restaurant to find out whether it’s low-calorie yogurt or high-fat sour cream. Try to limit or avoid tzatziki made with sour cream. Souvlaki, the Greek version of shish kebabs, is often offered in the same sandwich-style fashion.
Falafel, another well-known sandwich stuffer, is made from mashed chickpeas that are formed into balls and deep-fried. While chickpeas are inherently healthy, the deep-fried method takes away somewhat from its health value. However, all foods considered, falafel is still a reasonably healthy choice. If you are craving falafel, it’s best, based on the fat and carbohydrate content, to enjoy only a small portion. Perhaps a falafel pita sandwich loaded with fresh vegetables, such as lettuce and tomato.
Shawarma, which is popular in Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish cuisines, among others, is a protein preparation in which chicken, lamb, or beef (or a mixture) are minced and spit-roasted. Shavings are then cut off and served on a platter or sandwich style—wrapped in a pita with toppings such as tahini, hummus, and pickled turnips.
Oftentimes, places that specialize in gyros or shawarma sandwiches also offer some type of potato dish. It may be french fries, as we know them in America, or a thicker cut of potato. Sometimes, the potatoes are placed directly in the pita to help soak up the sauces and keep them from draining off. As always, it’s better to load up your sandwich with vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers, rather than fried potatoes.
Entrées
When it comes to Middle Eastern entrées, there are plenty of options. It’s possible to order seafood or to go vegetarian, but beef and lamb are the predominant sources of protein in this cuisine. Some popular dishes are kibbeh, consisting of meat (sometimes raw) and cracked wheat with vegetables and spices tossed in, as well as kafta, which is made with ground beef, onions, parsley, and spices. If desired, it’s easy to eat vegetarian when consuming Middle Eastern food; order stuffed eggplant or a vegetarian appetizer and several à la carte salads. Grilling, stovetop cooking, and baking are the preparation methods of choice.
A very familiar entrée is shish kebab. Its origins relate to the time when the Ottoman armies camped outdoors and had to cook quickly. They devised the method of putting chunks of meat and vegetables on skewers and cooking them quickly over an open outdoor oven. Today, they are cooked on a grill. In most restaurants you can order shish kebab with lamb, beef, chicken, shrimp, or just vegetables. Sometimes a combination is available. The meats are marinated in olive oil, lemon, wine, and spices, then they’re grilled on a skewer with vegetables, such as bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
Eggplant is an ingredient in several Middle Eastern dishes, moussaka being a familiar one, which consists of an eggplant and tomato casserole with a white sauce topping known as a béchamel sauce (butter, flour, and milk). Yes, a thick béchamel layer can layer on the fat and calories. Or you might find sheikh el mahshi—eggplant stuffed with meat. It’s important to realize that eggplant absorbs lots of oil and that prior to cooking eggplant, it is sometimes salted to remove the bitter taste. So, eggplant dishes are probably not as low in fat and sodium as you think.
Lahmajun is the Armenian answer to pizza. It’s dough that is topped with ground meat, parsley, tomatoes, onions, and Middle Eastern spices. This is a reasonably healthy choice as long as you practice portion control. It’s light on fat, contains some vegetables and a balance of protein and carbohydrate. Omelets made with feta cheese or loukaniko (sausage) and three eggs are offered on Middle Eastern menus. Avoid or split. Adding cheese or sauce to three eggs gives you enough cholesterol for several days, not to mention the fat load it contains.
Dinners in Middle Eastern restaurants are usually served with a small salad, pita bread, rice pilaf, and/or a steamed vegetable. All of these are relatively low-fat additions to your meal, except for the rice pilaf, which may have a fair share of olive oil mixed in (as is often the case with the Lebanese version of this dish). If you closely watch your calories, pick and choose which of these sides you want to eat. The salad and pita bread are good options.
When eating at a Middle Eastern restaurant, don’t feel compelled to include an entrée. Unless you can split or complement two dishes by sharing with a dining partner, ordering multiple dishes (to create a well-balanced meal) might be too much food and an invitation to overeat. Mix and match à la carte appetizers, salads, and side dishes to create a healthy, balanced meal that will allow you to taste more foods. Middle Eastern restaurants make ordering à la carte from the list of great-tasting and healthy appetizers quite easy. Complement a couple of these appetizers with a healthy Greek salad. Another approach is to split everything with a dining partner, from appetizer to—if you must and it tastes absolutely great—dessert. Or, once again, eat family style by ordering and dividing a number of dishes. But don’t forget—when eating family style, always order fewer dishes than there are people at the table or be ready to store some food away for tomorrow’s eats.
Dessert
Dessert in the Middle East is traditionally just a bowl of fruit, but this is not so in Middle Eastern restaurants in America. You’ll often have the sweet choices of baklava, kataif, and rice pudding. Kataif is a small pancake filled with either sweet items (served for dessert) or savory items (served with the meal). The sweet pancakes may be filled with a white cheese, topped with ground pistachios, and dipped in or served with simple sugar syrup. They may be baked or deep-fried. Baklava is traditionally made with phyllo dough, plenty of butter, walnuts, honey, and spices. A number of other varieties of baklava may be available using different nuts and seasonings. Regardless of the variety, baklava is always high in fat and sugar and that translates to calories. It’s best to avoid high-fat, high-calorie desserts. Or, at most, nibble a few bites to quench your sweet tooth. It might take care of sweet cravings for a week or so.
The other half of enjoying pastries in the Middle East is sipping a cup of Turkish or Greek coffee, which resembles and is served like espresso in Italian restaurants and upscale dining establishments. It is strong and sometimes thick or muddy. Small portions are served in demitasse cups. The coffee alone might be a new taste treat for you and, best yet, it has almost zero calories. Do make sure they don’t add sugar to it before serving.
Nutrition Snapshot
Green-Flag Words
Ingredients:
• Chickpeas
• Cracked wheat (tabouli)
• Cucumber
• Eggplant—not fried or drenched in oil
• Fava beans
• Grape leaves
• Green beans, spinach
• Gyro meat
• Herbs and spices
• Lemon juice
• Mint
• Onions
• Parsley
• Pine nuts
• Shrimp, squid (calamari)
• Souvlaki
• Spiced ground beef or lamb
• Tomatoes, onions, and green peppers
• Yogurt
Cooking Methods/Menu Descriptions:
• Baked
• Charcoal broiled
• Dolmas, dolmades
• Grilled on a skewer (kebab)
• Lemon dressing
• Marinated and barbecued
• Simmered
• Stewed
• Stuffed with ground lamb or meat
• Stuffed with rice and meat
• Tomato sauce
Red-Flag Words
Ingredients:
• Caviar (high in sodium and cholesterol)
• Egg
• Feta cheese, kasseri cheese (high in sodium and fat)
• Kalamata olives, Greek olives (high in sodium and fat)
• Loukaniko (pork sausage; high in sodium and fat)
• Olive oil
• Sesame seed paste or purée
• Tahini (ground sesame seeds)
Cooking Methods/Menu Descriptions:
• Béchamel sauce (white sauce)
• Cheese pie
• Golden fried
• In pastry crust
• Lemon and butter sauce
• Pan-fried, deep-fried
• Phyllo dough (problem is the butter used between the layers)
• Spanakopita
• Tarator sauce (made with yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, walnut, dill, vegetable oil, and water)
• Topped with creamy sauce
Healthy Eating Tips and Tactics
• Order à la carte. Rather than ordering a large entrée, which can be heavy on the rice and protein (meat), opt for a cup of soup, a salad, and perhaps an appetizer.
• Go vegetarian. Lamb and chicken often get center stage at Middle Eastern restaurants in America, but vegetarian options are bountiful and make it easy to enjoy a flavorful meatless meal.
• Opt for soup or salad, instead of a heavier appetizer.
• Watch portion sizes, which can be large. Share with your dining companion(s) or ask for a box to take half of your meal home.
Get It Your Way
• Request salad dressing on the side. Or ask for some lemon slices to add extra flavor to your salad along with a small drizzle of olive oil.
• Many dips and spreads, like hummus, labneh, and baba ghanoush, are drizzled with olive oil before they hit your table. Ask that this extra olive oil be left off to shave a few calories and grams of fat from your meal.
• Watch out for high-fat additions—such as feta cheese, olives, or fried pita chips—to otherwise healthy salads.
• Tahini, hummus, and/or tzatziki are often spooned onto sandwiches with a heavy hand. Ask for these to be served on the side so you can control how much goes on your sandwich.
Tips and Tactics for Gluten-Free Eating
• All bread, bulgur, tabouli, pita, couscous, and falafel made with wheat flour contain gluten.
• Meat kebabs that have been marinated or dusted in flour contain gluten. Moussaka (the white béchamel sauce is made with wheat flour) and spanakopita (cheese and spinach pie) contain gluten. Ground meat patties (kafta) and meat pastries (sambousik) contain wheat. And gyro lamb contains gluten.
• Rice, hummus, baba ghanoush, and traditional Middle Eastern vegetables are typically gluten-free.
• Greek salads with feta, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers with vinegar and olive oil dressing are gluten-free.
• Grilled meat, poultry, and seafood kebabs without marinades are a good choice.
• Marinades that contain fresh herbs, olives, capers, tomatoes, lemon, and olive oil are safe.
• Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and tzatziki (Greek yogurt and cucumber dip) typically are gluten-free.
• Stuffed peppers and cabbage rolls in a gluten-free sauce are good choices.
• Fresh yogurt and fruit is an excellent choice for dessert if they’re on the menu.
Tips and Tactics to Help Kids Eat Healthy
• Skip the kids’ menu if there is one, such as in more Americanized versions of Middle Eastern restaurants.
• It’s no surprise that kids’ menus items, when they appear in Middle Eastern restaurants, are often higher in saturated fat—featuring more cheese and deep-fried options—than the foods you traditionally find in Middle Eastern cuisine.
• Split a sandwich with your child. Gyro and shawarma sandwiches are often quite large, offering enough to share. Supplement the sandwich with a healthy side, like a cup of soup, a Greek salad, or rice.
• Experiment with dips, since kids love to dunk, dip, and drizzle whenever they can. Hummus, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki may be new to your child, but they are generally healthy and are often well liked by children.
What’s Your Solution?
You and your family are spending the day in the city and decide to have dinner at a new-to-you Greek restaurant. You typically don’t eat Greek food, so you aren’t immediately familiar with all the menu options. You take a look around and notice that everyone is ordering a flaming cheese, which the servers make a big deal about. You also cast your eyes upon large entrée portions.
Which of the following options can help you stick to your health goals of managing your weight and glucose?
a) Control calories by asking for a takeout container at the start of your meal.
b) Order the sagnaki (flaming cheese), but enjoy just a few bites.
c) Start with a soup and salad, then share an entrée with your dining partner(s).
d) Split and share several vegetarian options on the menu.
See end of chapter for answers.
Menu Samplers
Menu Lingo
• Avgolemono: Greek soup made from chicken broth, rice, egg yolks, and lemon juice.
• Baba ghanoush: a purée of eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. It is used as a spread or dip for pita.
• Baklava: a sweet dessert consisting of layers of butter-drenched phyllo pastry, spices, rose water, and chopped nuts. After it’s baked, a honey syrup is poured over to soak into the layers.
• Dolma (plural: dolmades): this term technically means “something stuffed,” but often refers to stuffed grape leaves, filled with rice, onions, pine nuts, seasonings, and (sometimes) a ground meat.
• Falafel: small, deep-fried balls made of spiced, ground chickpeas. Generally served inside pita bread as a sandwich, but it can also be served as an appetizer.
• Fattoush: a salad made from mixed greens, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, toasted or fried pieces of pita bread, olive oil, and lemon juice. It is seasoned with sumac, which lends it a tart flavor.
• Ful medames: cooked and mashed fava beans (a very large bean) served with vegetable oil and flavorings such as cumin, garlic, onion, chopped parsley, and lemon juice.
• Gyro: a Greek specialty consisting of lamb (and sometimes beef) that is minced, molded around a spit, and vertically roasted. The meat is then sliced, folded into a pita, and topped with grilled onions, sweet peppers, and a cucumber-yogurt sauce.
• Hummus: a mixture of mashed or puréed chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. It is usually served as a dip with pieces of pita bread.
• Kafta: the Middle Eastern version of meatballs, which are made from ground meat (usually lamb or beef), onions, and spices.
• Kasseri cheese: a Greek cheese made from sheep or goat milk that has a sharp, salty flavor. Kasseri is the cheese used in the famous Greek dish, Saganaki, in which it is sautéed in butter and flamed with brandy.
• Kibbeh: popular in Lebanon and Syria, this dish combines ground meat (usually lamb), bulgur wheat, and various flavorings. Multiple variations exist and the meat may be raw or cooked.
• Lahmajun: a thin, pizza-like crust topped with minced meat, and minced vegetables and herbs, including onions, tomatoes, and parsley.
• Moussaka: sliced eggplant and ground lamb or beef that are layered, then baked. The eggplant may be deep-fried prior to being put into the casserole. This dish is often covered with a béchamel sauce. Other variations include the addition of onions, tomatoes, or potatoes.
• Shawarma: a protein preparation in which chicken, lamb, or beef (or mixed meats) are minced and placed on a spit where they are grilled. Shavings are cut off and often served sandwich style—wrapped in a pita with toppings such as tahini, hummus, and pickled turnips.
• Shish kebab: chunks of meat, fish, and/or vegetables that are threaded on a skewer and grilled or broiled.
• Souvlaki: a traditional Greek dish of lamb that has been marinated in oil, lemon juice, and seasonings, then threaded on a skewer and grilled. This dish sometimes includes vegetables such as green pepper or onion.
• Spanakopita: a savory phyllo pie filled with a mixture of sautéed spinach, onions, feta cheese, eggs, and seasonings.
• Tabouli: a salad made of finely chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions, mint, bulgur wheat, olive oil, and lemon juice.
• Taramosalata: a thick, creamy Greek specialty made with fish roe, lemon juice, milk-soaked bread crumbs, olive oil, and seasonings. It is often served with bread or crackers as an appetizer, but may be used as a vegetable dip also.
• Tzatziki: strained yogurt mixed with cucumber, lemon, and garlic. It may be made with sour cream. Tzatziki is used as a condiment or dip.
What’s Your Solution? Answers
a) Portion sizes at Greek restaurants are often quite large. Ask for a couple of takeout containers at the start of your meal to immediately create more reasonable portion sizes for yourself when the food arrives. The bonus: you’ll have another meal to enjoy the next day.
b) It is a special outing for your family, so you can indulge in this festive dish if you can’t resist. You are smart to have just a few bites. Here’s another tip: request that your salad arrives at the same time as the fried cheese so you have something else to fill up on. You can also make an effort to limit the saturated fat in the rest of your meal by limiting cheese and red meat.
c) The popular Greek soup, avgolemono, is a great start to your meal, as is a Greek salad. Other healthy strategies you may want to consider are asking for the salad dressing on the side and omitting either the feta or olives from the salad.
d) Middle Eastern vegetarian options are often very healthy, but be sure to read the menu descriptions. At Greek restaurants, the vegetarian options are often deep-fried or stuffed with cheese, as with the popular spanakopita. Healthy options are vegetables stuffed with rice, braised eggplant, and green bean and tomato casserole.
