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Our first dish this week isn't anything too complex, unless you consider the components. LABNEH & CHERMOULA WITH BAGUETTE is exactly what it sounds like, but the magic is in WHAT these things are. Labneh is basically a very thick, spreadable yogurt... think greek yogurt, but thicker. I'll be making my own of course, and I'll very lightly season this with a little lemon and salt. Then comes the magic part, the chermoula. Calling this sauce a "Moroccan pesto" isn't exactly right, but it's close enough to be not exactly wrong either. This sauce has lots of parsley, cilantro, garlic, lemon, spices... you get the idea. All these punchy ingredients are ground up and the result is like a... Moroccan pesto. You'll spread the labneh out on a plate, top it with this awesome sauce, then swoop some toasted baguette slices through it. It's a great way to start the meal.

If you've been to France, you've likely had a French carrot salad. It's everywhere. I even had a particularly nice version at the cafeteria in The Louvre. There aren't really rules for this dish, the carrots can be anywhere from finely grated to chunky and the flavors and ingredients are up for interpretation too. But one thing is clear: this dish (likely) originates from the various North African carrot salads that are ubiquitous in the region. My MOROCCAN-STYLE BISTRO CARROT SALAD takes this dish back to its roots, but maintains the very French serving style and sensibility. I'll be cutting the carrots finely, like a thick julienne, blanching them for a few seconds so they aren't raw, then dressing them with some very Moroccan flavors: orange, lemon, warm savory spices like cumin, and a touch of honey, finished with some fresh parsley to keep things French. If the idea of "carrot salad" sounds boring to you, then you haven't had THIS carrot salad.

Our main focus this week is something that's simple in its ingredients, but complex in its flavors. TOMATO-SAFFRON BEEF BOULETTES are, basically, very nice braised meatballs. The simplicity comes down to the fact that I'm not going to mess with things much here... tender petite beef meatballs, braised in an excellent fortified tomato broth, seasoned with garlic, onions, and a healthy dose of saffron. The complexity comes from the ingredients themselves: savory meaty goodness from the meatballs, rich summery notes from the tomatoes, aromatic backbone from the garlic and onions, slight dark woody flavors from the brandy I'll use to fortify the broth, and saffron... which is one of the most complex single ingredients there is. What we get is something that's deeply comforting, well suited for summer, and complex enough to be memorable. Sometimes it's the simple stuff that's the best, as long as the simple ingredients are carrying their weight. This dish carries LOTS of weight.

To go along with our main dish this week, we need something that's complementary, but also stands happily on its own. There's nothing wrong with "plain" couscous, but BROWN BUTTER & SHALLOT COUSCOUS is much better. I'll be using the big pearl couscous for this rather than the fluffy itty bitty stuff, so that we have something with a little more gravity. Past the actual couscous, this dish leans heavily French: nutty brown butter, savory sauteed shallots, toasted almonds for texture and flavor, and fresh herbs along with dried currants for some excellent freshness and a touch of sweetness. This is a dish I would serve as a vegetarian main course, but it does even better alongside our star this week. This isn't a "side dish", it's more like "best supporting actor".

Dessert this week is a take on a popular Moroccan cake called meskouta, but with some French touches. SPICED YOGURT CAKE WITH ROASTED PEACHES takes the classic Moroccan citrus yogurt cake, and finishes it with some very French roasted peaches. Views differ on whether this cake should be made with lemon or orange (and examples of both exist.) I'll be splitting the difference by using both fruits for the cake's main flavor, and using yogurt in the cake batter to accentuate the tartness of those citrus fruits and to temper the sweetness inherent in this traditional cake. Tender, moist citrus-infused cake, baked up to a dark caramelized brown, and finished with some roasted summer peaches. This one's not complicated, but keeping the flavors straightforward serves as a nice finish to our other highly-flavored menu items.