Here’s a little cucumber salad you can serve on its own or as a condiment alongside salmon, cold cuts, or a green salad.

Hummus - chickpea purée - is one of Israel’s national dishes. You’ll find dozens of kinds in restaurants (some of them - called hummusiyas - serve nothing else!) but it’s so quick to make that I encourage you to try it. Here is a classic version of hummus with tahini, the way we eat it around here. Kosher and parve, naturally.

Here is a must of Tunisian cooking: fricassés. They are sandwiches made with fried bread, like savory doughnuts, filled with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, olives, and cooked and fresh salads. Sounds heavy? Give them a try, they are always a hit, especially in mini size for your buffets and cocktail parties!

Beldi lemons are small lemons, about the size of a walnut, found mainly in North Africa and Israel. Their season is fairly short; I usually find them between December and January. Their thin skin makes them perfect for curing in salt, and they add a lovely fragrance to fresh salads, fish or tagines.

Carrots with caraway are a Tunisian specialty and part of the traditional kemia (the spread of small appetizers served at the start of a holiday meal). It’s a delicious way to dress up carrots, and it happens to be vegan and parve.

These little Tunisian briks filled with potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and tuna mean holiday tables to me. The crunch of the pastry gives way to a soft, melting filling, a recipe to try and add to your appetizer spreads or buffets.

Here’s a recipe idea to make with brik pastry sheets, this time without frying - a crispy brik roll filled with merguez! A quick, flavorful recipe.

Here’s an essential Israeli appetizer, smoky eggplant with tahini. It’s traditionally cooked over an open flame, which gives it that very characteristic taste. Here we like it with a little tomato, lots of tahini and cilantro. The result is melting and creamy. If you think you don’t like eggplant, give it a chance with this recipe!

Here is a Tunisian zucchini salad that will fit right in among your kemia (Tunisian mezze). It is perfect when you are making a couscous.

It was in London that I discovered egg salad, which the British love to eat in sandwiches. I adore this salad; it has more bite than our traditional French œuf-mayo (hard-boiled eggs with mayonnaise) thanks to the scallions and mustard. I also add a small, finely minced shallot, and it always gets devoured in minutes, even by the kids. You can enjoy it on bread, on challah, or use it to fill mini rolls for an appetizer.

Lentils are one of those ingredients that are often sitting in the pantry, and they shouldn’t be overlooked: they’re healthy and packed with protein. Beyond the famous French lentils with sausages, today I’m sharing a lentil salad recipe with fresh raw vegetables and smoked salmon, which pairs beautifully with lentils.

I fell in love with this simple, fresh salad - a lovely addition to your spring table.

A pizza with a thick, soft crust. You can vary the topping to suit your mood; what makes it special is that it’s a pizza without cheese. I’ve listed as suggestions the most traditional toppings and the ones we love. Naturally kosher and parve.

Black lentils (also called Beluga lentils, because the tiny black grains look like caviar) were a real discovery for me, and now I always keep some in my pantry. Nutritionally, they’re high in protein and packed with vitamins. They hold their shape when cooked and don’t need soaking, which makes them the perfect ingredient for a vegetarian starter or lunch that’s still filling!

A fresh, quick starter with a bright lemon flavor.

Here is a specialty of Tunisian Jewish cooking that goes wonderfully with your chicken broth. Minina is a kind of savory egg and chicken cake, cooked in a water bath, which gives it an unmatched tenderness. I’m sharing our family recipe for a classic Minina.

Herring and potato salad, or hareng pomme à l’huile, is another French bistro classic that everyone loves. It’s very simple to make and, as is so often the case, its success depends mostly on the quality of the ingredients: good potatoes and good herring.

These zucchini flans are soft and moist, a fresh idea and a nice change for using up zucchini! They can go alongside fish or meat, or stand on their own with a salad.

In a word? Delicious. Israeli chef Eyal Shani has restored this excellent, sometimes overlooked vegetable to its former glory. Whole roasted cauliflower is a recipe to adopt and serve to everyone who thinks vegetables are boring! You’ll never again be embarrassed to say that cauliflower is one of your favorite vegetables. And if nothing else, you’ll have a great recipe to serve to your vegetarian friends.

I really love vegetable carpaccios: they’re pretty, delicious and simple to make.

A must on every Sephardic Jewish holiday buffet, these are called banatages in Tunisia and pastels in Morocco. They are potato croquettes filled with tuna or meat, with a piece of egg hidden in the middle.