Anthony made Labaneh topped with Roasted Sheet Pan Cherry Tomatoes (well actually he used tomatoes larger than cherry tomatoes). Labaneh is strained yogurt, though Anthony strained his homemade kefir. It was a creamy, tart spread which was nice on his homemade bread topped with the roasted tomatoes, but also great with the harissa-honey chicken dish that Ximena made.

Rita made Root Vegetable and Medjool Date Stew. She used carrots, celery, and beets as her root vegetables, and there’s also beef in this stew. I’d never had a beet stew before, but I plan to again. Rita’s one complaint – the recipe said to cut all the root vegetables to the same size and add them all at the same time, but that left some undercooked and others too soft.

Ximena made Harissa-Honey Pargiyot (boneless chicken thighs). The recipe called for loquats or apricots – she used apricots since loquats aren’t currently in season. This chicken was incredible – my favorite dish of the lunch. Ximena wished the harissa she used was spicier and I agree there wasn’t much spice, but still so much luscious flavor! Loquat season is on its way, and I can’t wait to try them out in this dish.

Laura made Jeweled Rice. The jewels included caramelized onions, barberries, pistachios, almonds, and dill. This rice was fragrant and fantastic all by itself, but also incredible as a base to soak up all the good sauce from both Rita’s beet and beef stew and Ximena’s harissa honey chicken. Laura did note that the onion didn’t take near as long to caramelize as the recipe suggested.

I made Pistachio-Crusted Lemon Bars. An extremely fussy recipe that resulted in tasty but not-worth-the-effort lemon bars in my opinion. I make much simpler lemon bars that are comparable in flavor. I will borrow the ground pistachios for crust, though stick with butter instead of the coconut oil, which left an overwhelming coconut flavor on the tongue. Also the rose petal garnish is gorgeous.