Adding a Recipe

A complete guide for adding recipes to this collection — whether you're translating an Arabic recipe, formatting one from a website, or transcribing a handwritten card.

In this guide: Setup Arabic recipes From images Internet sources Tags Schema reference Full example

1. How to Add a New Recipe

Recipes live in src/content/recipes/ as .mdx files. Create a new file named after the recipe's slug:

bash

src/content/recipes/my-recipe-name.mdx

Generating the slug

Use the kebab-case version of the English title:

"Fattoush Salad" → fattoush-salad.mdx

"Chicken Shawarma" → chicken-shawarma.mdx

"Spaghetti Aglio e Olio" → spaghetti-aglio-olio.mdx

2. Handling Arabic Recipes

If the recipe text is in Arabic:

Translate all fields to English — title, description, steps, and notes.
Preserve the dish name: If there's no English equivalent, transliterate it (e.g., "Fattoush", "Kibbeh", "Mujaddara") and include the Arabic name in the description.
Attribute accurately in the author field:

yaml Author attribution examples

author: "Family Recipe — translated from Arabic"
author: "Teta Suha (translated from Arabic)"
author: "Aunt Samira (translated from Arabic)"

💡

Natural translation: Translate cooking instructions naturally, not word-for-word. "اقلي البصل حتى يذهب ريحه" should become "Cook the onions until softened and fragrant" — not "Fry the onion until its smell goes away."

3. Handling Handwritten or Printed Recipes

When working from a photo of a handwritten or printed recipe card:

Extract all text carefully — ingredients, amounts, steps.
If an amount is unclear or illegible, use a reasonable culinary default and document it in notes:

yaml

notes: "Amount for tahini estimated from standard hummus proportions
as original handwriting was unclear."

4. Internet-Sourced Recipes

For recipes adapted from websites, cookbooks, or published sources:

Attribute properly in the author field.
Paraphrase steps in your own words — do not copy verbatim.
Keep ingredient amounts accurate.

yaml Attribution examples

author: "Adapted from Smitten Kitchen"
author: "From NYT Cooking"
author: "Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi"
author: "Adapted from Claudia Roden's 'The Book of Jewish Food'"

5. Canonical Tag List

Use tags from this list. Only add new tags when clearly necessary.

Protein

Dietary

Cooking method

Character

Course

6. Schema Reference

Every field in the frontmatter, its type, and whether it's required:

Field	Type	Req.	Notes
`title`	string	✓	English title
`description`	string	✓	1–2 sentence description
`author`	string	✓	Credit / attribution
`cuisine`	string	✓	e.g. "Lebanese", "Italian"
`category`	string	✓	e.g. "Salads", "Mains", "Desserts"
`mealType`	enum	✓	breakfast / lunch / dinner / dessert / snack / drink
`tags`	string[]	✓	Array from canonical tag list
`servings`	number	✓	Base serving size
`prepTime`	number	✓	Minutes
`cookTime`	number	✓	Minutes
`totalTime`	number	✓	Minutes
`difficulty`	enum	✓	easy / medium / hard
`featured`	boolean	✓	Default: false
`coverImage`	string	✓	/images/[slug].jpg
`ingredients[].name`	string	✓	Ingredient name
`ingredients[].amount`	number	✓	Numeric amount
`ingredients[].unit`	string	✓	g, ml, tbsp, tsp, cup, piece…
`ingredients[].group`	string	—	Optional grouping label
`steps`	string[]	✓	Ordered cooking instructions
`notes`	string	—	Tips, substitutions, make-ahead
`nutrition.calories`	number	—	Per serving
`nutrition.protein`	number	—	Grams per serving
`nutrition.carbs`	number	—	Grams per serving
`nutrition.fat`	number	—	Grams per serving
`publishedAt`	date	✓	YYYY-MM-DD
`updatedAt`	date	—	YYYY-MM-DD if updated

7. Full Example

A complete, valid .mdx recipe file you can use as a template:

mdx src/content/recipes/mujaddara.mdx

---
title: "Mujaddara"
description: "A beloved Lebanese lentil and rice dish topped with deeply
  caramelized onions — simple, filling, deeply flavorful.
  Known as مجدرة in Arabic."
author: "Family Recipe — translated from Arabic"
cuisine: "Lebanese"
category: "Mains"
mealType: "dinner"
tags: ["vegan", "vegetarian", "Lebanese", "lentils", "comfort-food"]
servings: 6
prepTime: 10
cookTime: 50
totalTime: 60
difficulty: "easy"
featured: false
coverImage: "/images/mujaddara.jpg"
ingredients:
  - name: "green or brown lentils"
    amount: 300
    unit: "g"
  - name: "long grain rice"
    amount: 200
    unit: "g"
  - name: "large onions"
    amount: 4
    unit: "piece"
  - name: "olive oil"
    amount: 80
    unit: "ml"
  - name: "cumin"
    amount: 1.5
    unit: "tsp"
  - name: "salt"
    amount: 1.5
    unit: "tsp"
  - name: "black pepper"
    amount: 0.5
    unit: "tsp"
  - name: "water"
    amount: 1000
    unit: "ml"
steps:
  - "Rinse lentils and check for stones. Simmer in water 20 min."
  - "Slice onions thin. Cook in olive oil 30–35 min until deeply
     caramelized. Reserve half for topping."
  - "Add cumin to pan, then lentils with liquid. Add rice."
  - "Cook covered on low 20 min. Steam off heat 10 min."
  - "Serve topped with reserved onions and olive oil."
notes: "The caramelized onions are non-negotiable. Low and slow."
nutrition:
  calories: 380
  protein: 14
  carbs: 58
  fat: 10
publishedAt: 2024-03-01
---

Mujaddara is the kind of dish that proves you don't need meat for
a deeply satisfying meal.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

✗

Non-numeric amounts amount: "2-3" — amounts must be numbers. Use 2 and add a note.

✗

Missing featured field — always include featured: false (or true).

✗

Copying steps verbatim from copyrighted sources — always paraphrase.

✗

Off-list tags — only use tags from the canonical list above.

✓

Always translate Arabic content to English before structuring the frontmatter.

✓

Use today's date for publishedAt when adding a new recipe.

✓

Group ingredients using the optional group field when a recipe has multiple components (e.g., "For the sauce", "For the dough").