Mediterranean meal makes 40th a celebration

Last month, twelve of us decamped to Palm Springs to celebrate my partner Chris’ 40th birthday. Planning a weekend away with that many adults feels roughly as complicated as organizing a small diplomatic summit. By the time we all arrived at the house, I felt like we’d already achieved something worth celebrating. 

I briefly entertained the idea of hiring a private chef. Palm Springs has no shortage of talented cooks willing to arrive with coolers full of ingredients and quietly disappear after dessert. But I ultimately decided to do it myself, with the aid of my sous chef and fellow Larchmont Farmers Market enthusiast, Allie. 

One of my favorite things in the world is sitting at a table surrounded by people I love while everyone eats together. The older I get, the more I appreciate how rare that has become. Getting this many people around a table for a few uninterrupted hours now feels almost radical. 

Of course, if you’re cooking for a crowd in a kitchen that isn’t your own, this is not the moment to start experimenting. For inspiration, I turned to the Middle East—partly because the food lends itself beautifully to sharing, and partly because these are dishes I’ve cooked enough times to know they won’t betray me. 

The menu was simple: roasted harissa salmon, a grain-based tabbouleh, baked feta with sweet peppers, and a bright green tahini sauce that I would happily eat with a spoon if society allowed it. 

The true secret to successful entertaining isn’t cooking impressive food. It’s choosing food that allows you to spend time together. 

The tabbouleh can be made hours ahead. I start with Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend— a mixture of quinoa, giant couscous, lentils, and orzo—cooked according to the packet instructions and left to cool with a generous glug of olive oil. Into that goes diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green onions, and heroic quantities of parsley, mint, and cilantro, all chopped nice and small. 

There is admittedly quite a lot of chopping involved. Fortunately, our group’s designated mixologist appeared at exactly the right moment and handed me a martini. 

Unfortunately, Airbnb kitchens continue to be equipped with knives that possess all the cutting power of a butter spreader. Hard liquor and blunt blades are perhaps not the ideal combination, but I’m pleased to report that all 10 fingers survived the evening. 

The dressing is one I’ve been making variations of for years: Dijon mustard, lemon juice, a little orange, honey, salt, and pepper. It doesn’t taste particularly exciting on its own but given an hour to mingle with the grains and herbs, it somehow becomes far greater than the sum of its parts. 

The salmon follows a similarly low-effort, high-reward philosophy. I line a sheet pan with rounds of whatever citrus happens to be available— lemons, oranges, limes—then place a large salmon fillet on top. A thin layer of harissa paste mixed with lemon juice and a little honey gets spread across the surface before a dusting of spices. Last summer, I picked up a wonderful Middle Eastern spice blend at a farmers market in Porto, Portugal, but a little garam masala and cinnamon work beautifully too. 

The whole thing can sit happily in the refrigerator for several hours before roasting. This is exactly the kind of recipe I want in my arsenal when hosting. I don’t want to be trapped in the kitchen while everyone else is drinking wine and telling stories. I want food that quietly takes care of itself. 

Which brings me to the green sauce. Parsley, cilantro, garlic, lemon, jalapeño, and a little water get blitzed until bright green and smooth before being mixed with tahini. It’s creamy without containing any dairy, fresh without being worthy, and manages to improve almost everything it touches. The salmon likes it. The feta likes it. Flatbread certainly likes it. 

The final dish was baked feta with sweet peppers. If there is a more crowd-pleasing ingredient than a block of feta roasted until soft and golden before being drizzled with honey and chili flakes, I have yet to encounter it. 

The peppers collapse into sweet, jammy puddles around the cheese. The honey caramelizes. The edges catch slightly. Warm flatbreads become mandatory. 

By the time everything emerged from the oven, the table was already glowing with candles, several bottles of wine had been opened, and conversations had splintered into smaller ones before merging together again. 

As it turns out, turning 40 looks quite nice. Not because of the milestone itself, but because of what it represents. The friendships that survive into middle age tend to be intentional ones. The people around that table had traveled from different cities, rearranged schedules, delayed obligations, and navigated increasingly busy lives to be there. That’s no small thing. 

The food may have brought us to the table. In hindsight, it wasn’t the point. It was the stories, the laughter that lingered, and the feeling of being together in one place long enough to forget about the stresses of daily life. The table was the point.

 

Pita or flatbreads

Tags: baked feta & peppers, harissa salmon, jai daittani, recipe, Something's Cooking, tabbouleh, tahini

Category: Entertainment