Vegetarian
6897 recipes found
Rice and Squash Bombe
This pita-crusted rice and squash bombe is a celebratory showstopper, capable of upstaging any roast or standing alone as the centerpiece of a vegetarian feast. The technique of encrusting pilaf in crisp bread is inspired by fruit-studded Azerbaijani shakh plov and Persian polo ba tahdig. It’s a bit fiddly, with three components to prepare — rice, cumin-roasted shallots and squash, and saffron butter — but none of them are complicated. Cook them in advance, but assemble the bombe when you’re ready to bake it off. Make sure to butter the baking bowl heavily and overlap your pitas without gaps. If in doubt, arm yourself with more pitas than the recipe calls for, in case yours are a bit dry when you take them out of the packet — you may need spares for patching.
Leafy Winter Salad
Bitter winter chicories are balanced with some endive and cress, and sweetened with a honey-spiked dressing. It makes a refreshing side to any rich wintry dish. As vinegar and honey can vary wildly in flavor, dip a leaf into your dressing jar to check it for seasoning and balance, adjusting as needed before tossing it through the salad.
Celery and Pecan Gratin
A crisp and salty bread-crumb topping laced with sweet chopped pecans perfectly complements this creamy, silky celery bake. Peeling the tough outer celery stalks removes any stringy fibers, which can detract from the custardy texture of the final dish. Like many casseroles, a solid resting period pays off in the end, allowing the vegetables and sauce to cohere and firm up. The dish is perfect for making as part of a larger holiday meal, when oven space can be at a premium and flexible timing keeps things stress-free.
Shorbat Adas bil Hamod (Lentil Soup With Greens)
This traditional Lebanese soup is as simple as it is special. “Hamod” means sour in Arabic and, in this case, refers to the generous amount of lemon juice that brightens the lentil soup at the end. This acidity, paired with the flavorful garlic and cilantro oil that's poured all over the top, is what makes this otherwise humble soup stand out. If you don’t have brown lentils, then green ones will do. You can also swap out the chard for another leafy green like spinach, and play around with the spices. If you prefer a thinner soup, add in a splash more stock or water to your desired consistency.
Baked Brie Puffs With Chile Crisp
This flaky, creamy, sweet and spicy appetizer shrinks baked brie into single-bite, snackable sandwiches. (It’s hard to eat fewer than five.) They’re made by filling small squares of seeded puff pastry with a combination of Brie, raspberry preserves and chile crisp. The assembly is repetitive but not difficult — enlist friends to help, and they can be made up to 1 hour ahead of serving. If you want to serve the puffs warm, stick them in the oven for just a minute or two until the brie is gooey. If you have extra filling, add more to the puffs or save it to spread on tomorrow’s turkey sandwich. If you have extra puffs, eat them on their own as crackers.
Ginger-Scallion Squiggles
Crunchy, flaky and aromatic with ginger and scallion, these squiggles are a fun twist (pun intended) on the classic cheese straw. Instead of cheese, these puff pastry appetizers are studded with ginger, scallions, nori, peanuts and red pepper flakes — and instead of straight sticks, they’re curved and curled to make snake-like squiggles. Serve them at your next cocktail party, as an afternoon snack to visitors or as an appetizer before a bigger meal. They’re the most crisp the day they’re made, but can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day.
White Bean Dip With Cumin-Chile Oil
This silky white bean dip has a crowd-pleasing, hummus-like appeal, but it’s seasoned with toasted cumin, lemon zest and chile flakes instead of tahini. Drizzling warm cumin oil over the top brings out the earthy flavor of the beans and adds a richness that makes the dip even more velvety. You can make the dip up to five days ahead (store it in the fridge), but don’t add the cumin oil until right before serving for the most pronounced contrast of flavors and textures.
Halloumi-Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Mini peppers make adorable, colorful wrappers for cheese in this sweet and savory recipe that’s extremely easy to make. Just stuff the diminutive peppers with chunks of cheese (halloumi, or paneer also works), some garlic and herbs, then roast until they collapse into soft, caramelized heaps filled with salty, not-quite melted cheese. You can serve these on crostini or lettuce to make festive finger food, or plop them on salads, rice dishes, eggs or beans.
Sun Bread
This happy little loaf was adapted from “Sun Bread” by Elisa Kleven (Puffin Books, 2001), a beautifully illustrated children’s book about a lonely canine baker who finds herself in the midst of a cold, long winter. Missing the warmth and light of the sun, she bakes a yeast-risen one in her oven, which (surprise!) awakens the real sun, hastening the arrival of spring. You could bake it to celebrate the Winter Solstice and the start of longer days, or just to brighten an otherwise dreary day. It’s a delightfully simple recipe that yields a squishy, buttery loaf best served straight from the oven slathered in more — you guessed it — butter. But it’s also great sliced and toasted with jam. Ms. Kleven’s original recipe calls for shaping a face out of bits of dough, which you can certainly do in Step 4 before the second rise if you’re making this with children, or if you’re a child at heart.
Paneer Pakoray (Paneer Fritters)
Paneer, a mild and firm cheese widely used throughout South Asia and beyond, makes the perfect base for this salty, spicy snack or starter. The addition of rice flour to the batter for these bite-size fritters makes for an extra crispy coating. Chaat masala, a funky, umami-rich spice blend readily available at Indian grocers, adds notes of sour mango and earthy cumin — perhaps the defining flavors of this ultimate fried cheese snack. Homemade or store-bought paneer works for this recipe, although the latter tends to vary in consistency. If the variety available is on the firmer side, soak the cubes in warm water for 10 minutes and drain before using. Serve with store-bought or homemade mint or mango chutney.
Espagueti Verde (Creamy Roasted Poblano Pasta)
At weddings, baptisms and other special occasions across Mexico, pots of spaghetti coated in creamy green sauce sit on most every banquet table. Smoky with charred peppers and tangy with crema, it’s the dish everyone loves. Throughout the country, the herbs in it change — there may be epazote, cilantro or parsley — but there are always roasted poblanos. Traditionally, the chiles are pureed into a sauce to coat the pasta, but you can skip that step to highlight even more of their flavor and texture. Cream, Mexican crema and queso fresco temper any lingering heat and round out the whole dish to a tangy finish.
Sourdough Herb Noodles
If you are the kind of cook who has more sourdough starter than you know what to do with, using it in fresh pasta produces a springy texture and deep flavor. Hannah Neeleman bakes bread most days for her family of 10 at Ballerina Farm, the name of both her 328-acre ranch in Utah and her wildly popular social media accounts. She makes this recipe to serve with stews like beef stroganoff. It can also be made without the herbs.
Maitake au Poivre
Hold the steak. This vegetarian take on steak au poivre, from Manhattan’s Café Chelsea, boasts the same generous application of crushed black pepper, mellowed with cream, stock and a vibrant splash of Cognac, but calls for slabs of maitake mushroom instead of beef. To strut its meaty swagger, the dish is listed on Café Chelsea’s menu among the grilled choices (a grill pan or skillet works just as well) rather than being relegated to the vegetable section. The restaurant opts for large slices of maitake, but the recipe works with several smaller pieces as well. Though quick to assemble, it’s not easy to scale up, so think intimate dinner or Valentine’s Day.
Portobello Mushroom Milanese
Milan. The city’s name represents a recipe. You know it: a flattened, crisply breaded surfboard of veal or chicken that’s often big enough to cover the plate. Sometimes fish is called on. Or pork. Here, the technique is applied to large mushrooms, which are also flattened and then treated to the step-by-step of a dusting of flour to dry the surface, then an egg wash to grab the final coating of crumbs. (The same technique will also produce a schnitzel.) Marissa Lo, the executive chef at Boat House in Tiverton, R.I., was inspired to try the technique with big portobello caps after visiting Italy. Serve them dressed with a tangle of salad greens, or top with tomato sauce and melted cheese like a Parm. However you serve your Milanese, consider a platter of them for a holiday party.
Ipo Pain Perdu (Coconut-Bread French Toast)
Pain perdu, which Americans know as French toast, traditionally calls for crusty French bread. Heimata Hall, who runs food tours on his native Mo‘orea in French Polynesia, uses ipo, a Tahitian bread rich with grated coconut and coconut milk. The dough should be as sticky as possible — so sticky, you think it must surely need more flour or liquid, but no. Some recipes call for baking or boiling, but Mr. Hall prefers steaming because it holds in moisture and gives the bread a smooth, clean finish. For pain perdu, he cuts the ipo into thick slabs and dunks them in coconut milk, just enough so they’re coated but not sopping, then in egg. The pan gets a brushing of butter (not too much), to crisp the outside of the bread and caramelize the coconut. The finish: fresh mint, nuts, whatever fruit is in season, and, for extra luxury, a spoonful of coconut cream complete the dish.
Kristen Kish’s Squash and Coconut Milk Custard
In my take on a Thai dish called sankaya faktong, roasted squash halves are filled with coconut milk that’s cooked into a savory crème brûlée of sorts — delightfully jiggly — then topped with brown butter and walnuts. I like to serve it as a starter or as a side with roasted chicken; the coconut flavor gives the squash that sweet-savory mix. This recipe, adapted from “Kristen Kish Cooking” (Clarkson Potter, 2017), is a great autumn dish that would make a nice veggie option at Thanksgiving.
Hobakjuk (Korean Squash Porridge)
Traditionally made with kabocha squash, this soothing porridge showcases the natural velvety texture of winter squash. Make this when squash is in season, as the flavor of the porridge will be best when the gourds are at their peak, both nutty and sweet; use kabocha, butternut or any orange-fleshed squash or pumpkin. Sweet white rice, also known as glutinous rice, becomes sticky and thickens the mixture naturally as it cooks. Typically topped with slivered Korean dates and pine nuts, a more modern, crunchier nut-and-seed topping contrasts this creamy, bisque-like soup. Leftovers freeze very well.
Baked Korean Sweet Potatoes With Scallion-Miso Butter
Korean sweet potatoes are full of surprises: Their gorgeous purple skin reveals not orange but white flesh underneath, which has a floral, honey-like sweetness and a supercreamy texture. (Japanese sweet potatoes can be used interchangeably, and even any supermarket sweet potato variety can be used for this recipe.) Wrap your sweet potatoes tightly in foil and roast until completely soft in the center, about 1 hour. While your oven works, make a quick scallion-and-miso compound butter that complements the sweet potatoes but can also elevate all sorts of roasted veggies like cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. Split open the hot potatoes and dollop with the compound butter and a spoonful of sour cream. Each bite has a wonderful balance of sweet and salty; the addition of sour cream introduces nostalgic sour cream and onion vibes.
Cranberry Grilled Cheese
Somehow, there is always leftover cranberry sauce after all of the other Thanksgiving leftovers have disappeared. The classic grilled cheese sandwich comes to the rescue, welcoming any cranberry sauce you have on hand into its warm, melty embrace. A meat-free alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, this cranberry sauce grilled cheese thrives with mild or sharp Cheddar, though any cheese is welcomed here. Adding in a layer of Dijon mustard and of course, a few slices of turkey, are also great ideas.
Potatoes Romanoff
Light and airy potatoes Romanoff are a nostalgic side dish popularized by chef John Schenk, formerly of Strip House steakhouses, who has credited his mother with preparing the dish using leftover baked russet potatoes. Whole russets are baked a day in advance and completely cooled in the refrigerator overnight for this version. This ensures the potatoes remain fluffy and don’t get mushy and wet. The potatoes are then grated (skins on) and gently tossed with shallots, Cheddar and sour cream. For the signature, almost souffle-like texture, take care to aerate the mixture, gently tossing it rather than mashing. A classic oval baking dish is ideal to mound the mixture and bake it in the oven, set in a hot water bath, but any oven-safe casserole dish will do. (Smaller individual dishes work as well.) Potatoes Romanoff complete a steak dinner and are equally welcome alongside a roast chicken or a holiday turkey.
Martha Stewart’s Mashed Potatoes
One of our family’s favorite dishes growing up was the delicious mashed potato recipe Mom would prepare to accompany her roast pork loin, roasted chicken, and, on Thanksgiving, her big roasted turkey. Her secrets? Idaho potatoes, peeled and boiled until fork-tender. Lots of fresh butter. A lot of cream cheese and hot milk added for creaminess. Salt and pepper, of course. It was not possible to find Yukon Golds in the Nutley Co-Op, where we shopped for all our groceries in the ’40s, or in the ShopRite, which came to Nutley, N.J., in the early ’50s. But these days, I love the tenderness of Yukon Golds, and I grow a hardy crop of them in my Bedford garden in New York. I also use both heavy cream and milk, and I use a food mill with the finest sieve to ensure the creamiest, smoothest and silkiest mashed potatoes ever.
Maangchi’s Diced Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)
Kimchi made with large Korean radishes is the second most popular kimchi, after traditional napa cabbage kimchi. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook, “Maangchi’s Big Book of Korean Cooking” (Harvest, 2019), is great both freshly made and fermented, so you can eat some of it right after you make it and put the rest aside. Well-fermented kkakdugi is always served with rice and goes well with just about any Korean soup or stew.
Spicy Black Bean Soup
There are a lot of things to love about this soup: It comes together in 20 minutes in just one pot with fewer than 10 ingredients. But most importantly, minimal effort results in a velvety yet bright soup. The cocoa powder accentuates the fudginess of the black beans, while the salsa verde adds surprising tartness. The tomatillos in the salsa also contain pectin which, along with the starchy bean liquid, quickly thickens the soup. While the soup’s cooking, ready your garnishes as you’ll want plenty to top the bowls. Leftover soup keeps for up to three days, but will stiffen as it sits, so thin with water as needed or turn it into refried beans.
Rice and Peas
This steamed pilaf of rice and red kidney beans (also known as “red peas" in Jamaica) is a beloved companion to many Caribbean classics like oxtail, curry goat and escovitch fish. It is also supremely satisfying on its own with a simple pat of butter. Coconut milk, onion and thyme mingle with the beans as they cook, creating an earthy broth that eventually plumps the rice and gives it its signature hue. Sometimes, the coconut milk is prepared from scratch, but the canned version requires much less effort and adds a similar richness. Some may prefer to pressure cook their beans for speed, but this version calls for an overnight soak (which speeds up the cooking process and helps the beans cook evenly) and some good old-fashioned patience.