chai ice cream

The process used to make this ice cream is similar to that of arabic coffee ice cream. In both cases, the concept is to infuse milk with spices and turning the milk into ice cream. You begin by infusing milk with spices by heating them together over the stove, and finish by cooling the milk and then freezing it in your ice cream maker. If you don't have all the spices, feel free to leave a few out. It will still taste good.

olive bread, warm ricotta and fleur de sel

The key to this recipe is definitely the warm, homemade ricotta, a fresh, no-rennet cheese that is surprisingly easy to make at home. I've never warmed to store-bought ricotta and have always considered it a kind of lackluster, sub-par cheese that I avoided unless I needed it in a lasagna, but my recent introduction to fresh ricotta completely changed my way of thinking about it.

chickpea patty rollup

The Greek Corner in Cambridge, Massachusetts serves one of the most luscious sandwiches I've ever had the pleasure of biting into. The food at the Greek Corner is incredible all around, but I find it very hard to go there and not order the lamb sandwich, a mouthwatering rollup that combines roast lamb, rich tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers.

There was a time in my life when I worked just next to this restaurant and, as a result, had the excuse and privilege of eating this sandwich almost every day. I never tired of it, and it's one of the many things in Cambridge I had a hard time parting with when I moved to New York.

The recipe below was born out of a feeling of nostalgia for the Greek Corner's lamb sandwich. While there's no lamb in this recipe, I've tried to honor the general gist of the sandwich by preserving the combination of tzatziki, fresh vegetables, and grilled flatbread. In lieu of lamb, I've used spinach and chickpea patties flavored with garlic, cumin, and lemon. The resulting taste is not unlike hummus, and the texture of the patties adds a meaty dimension to the dish.