Instant Backyard Cookout
Lebanese Taverna Market, 4400 Old Dominion Drive, Arlington, 703-276-8681; www.lebanesetaverna.com
Dishes from Lebanese Taverna’s “Beirut” sampler. Photo by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg
Inviting everyone back for a barbecue after your kids’ soccer game seemed like a good idea, didn’t it? But now they’re all coming over and you haven’t done a thing about it. Don’t panic. Hop in the car, head over to the Lebanese Taverna Market and pick up a selection of salads, spreads, side dishes and sauces, plus an assortment of kabobs to throw on the grill.
Then transfer everything onto your favorite ceramic platters, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, throw on some freshly chopped parsley and pass off the entire meal as your own. (Or, if you must, give credit where it’s due.)
At the market, you can choose among the many Middle Eastern staples in the display cases, or make your life easy and pre-order the “Beirut” (which feeds 12) for pickup. It’s a portable smorgasbord that includes hummus, grape leaves, spinach- and/or cheese-filled fatayer (triangular pastries), kibbeh (fried balls of ground beef, lamb, crushed wheat, almonds and spices), sambousick (ground-beef and pine-nut turnovers), tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, lubieh (green-bean stew), basmati rice, marinated lamb-and-chicken kabobs (veggie, salmon or shrimp kabobs available, too) and baklava. For a finishing touch, don’t forget to spread harissa (spicy red chili paste) and toum (fluffy, whipped Lebanese garlic sauce) all over the kabobs once they’re grilled.