Last year, when my husband Bryan and I visited Israel for the first time, I was naturally very excited about the food. I had heard about how amazing the hummus is there (it is), but what I was really blown away by was the labneh- a tangy Middle Eastern strained yogurt that’s both impossibly smooth and luxuriously creamy. It’s like a way better version of cream cheese! While it’s usually served as a savory side dish, I thought it would make an excellent base for a light summer dessert.
Read MoreButter mochi, a staple at Japanese-Hawaiian potlucks, is said to be a combination of Japanese mochi and Filipino bibingka, a sweet coconut rice flour cake. This butter mochi has another layer of complexity- the addition of tahini, one of my favorite Middle-Eastern ingredients.
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