Bsisu, a Cincinnati-based writer of Palestinian heritage, details at some length the cultural tradition of hospitality in the Arab world, where guests are customarily greeted with an open larder and a laden table. This praiseworthy habit makes for a warm social life. But when you look at the recipes up close, what you see are hours of dedication in the kitchen. Whatever may be the philosophical underpinnings of the hospitality tradition, the unspoken truth is that generations of patient women have chopped, peeled, soaked, blanched, and fried their days away. How this must feel in the summer, in a desert nation, I'm not sure I can imagine.
Nevertheless, the bright tastes and varied textures are reward enough, even if you're not feeling motivated to entertain in the traditional style. The smaller, less time-consuming starters were especially satisfying. Easy, cooling, and mint-flecked, cucumber and yogurt proved addictive eaten with a bit of toasted pita. Beet salad was bright and bracing in its white-vinegar dressing. Orange lentil soup contained only the lentils, broth, onions, and seasonings (the soup has no citrus flavors; it's made with orange-colored lentils), yet the flavor was rounded and a spoonful of lemon yogurt gave it an invigorating finish.
Two dishes that might have been subtitled ''some assembly required" produced substantial, rounded meals. Baked kafta with tahini married thin-sliced potatoes with ground lamb and a tahini sauce so garlicky-delicious, some of us were licking it out of the bowl. Chickpeas with yogurt turned out to involve interesting layers of toasted pita, yogurt, chickpeas, fried pine nuts, and parsley. ''Serves 8 to 10," writes Bsisu. Make that ''4."
