Vegetarian
6940 recipes found
Winter Squash and Sage Blini
Pancakes are a great vehicle for many vegetables. These are simple buttermilk/buckwheat blini with puréed butternut squash and sage whisked into the batter. I make them small and serve them as hors d’oeuvres. For vegetarian blini I top them with drained yogurt and a small spoonful of the sautéed winter squash with anchovies, capers and olives in this week’s recipes. You can also go the more traditional blini route and top with smoked salmon.
Tomato Frittata With Fresh Marjoram or Thyme
One of my summer favorites, this frittata makes a perfect and substantial meal served cold or at room temperature.
Cucumber Raita
Serve this raita as a refreshing side dish with grains or with any curry. Or enjoy it on its own for lunch.
Beet and Tomato Gazpacho
The color alone is reason enough to make this gorgeous gazpacho. This is inspired by a gazpacho by Dani Garcia in Ana von Bremzen’s “The New Spanish Table.” Mr. Garcia’s soup also includes cherries, which I don’t miss in this rendition. One roasted beet transforms a classic into a beautiful original.
Pomegranate Salad
This colorful salad of red pomegranate seeds, Romaine lettuce and roasted sesame seeds, dressed with a fresh pomegranate juice and honey dressing, sets a festive tone for any holiday table. Sadhna Sheli, a reader from Los Angeles, sent us this recipe which is popular with both adults and kids. “Kids will like it because it has that sweet element to it,” said Ms. Sheli.
Eggs Poached in Marinara Sauce
In southern Italy this dish has the evocative name Uova al Purgatorio. When I make tomato sauce in the summer, I freeze it in half-cup portions, which makes this meal for one easy to throw together.
Charred Tomato Soup With Coriander and Cilantro
A chilled tomato soup is most welcome on a sweltering summer day. Charring the tomatoes over coals or under the broiler adds a rustic smoky flavor to this one, while quartered and dressed cherry tomatoes and a spoonful of fresh ricotta or thick yogurt add substance and texture.
Fennel and Parmigiano
Sour Plum Molasses
Often made from sour varieties of pomegranates, apples, cherries, oranges and plums, sour fruit molasses is a staple in Northern Iranian cooking. Hanif Sadr uses wild plums that he forages in the Bay Area, which make his molasses extra sour, but store-bought plums work just as well. It’s a simple but long process, though it doesn’t take all day, as it would in Iran. Similar to preparing a fruit butter without sugar, this recipe calls to cook the fruit once to soften and release juices, then cook again to thicken. A nonstick pot prevents the molasses from burning on the sides and means less stirring. This molasses is worth the effort: You get a thick, spreadable sauce with a deep, caramelized plum flavor. Leftovers keep for a year refrigerated; use them for a variety of Iranian kebabs and stews, or mix with butter and rub on a whole chicken before roasting, as Mr. Sadr does.
Savory Waffles
“One thing my kids really love,” says Chef Linton Hopkins, “is when it’s raining outside at lunchtime and we make a batch of savory waffles. Instead of sugar and syrup, we just fold in Parmesan and Gruyère, if I have some sitting in the refrigerator, and salt and pepper. We have a waffle iron that has shapes of animals and a barn, so I ask my kids, ‘Do you want to be the pig today? Or the chicken? Or have a cow?’?” Try adding herbs and other seasonal produce, like pumpkin puree, to the batter instead of cheese. In the springtime you can add sautéed and chopped asparagus to the batter.
Preserved Crushed Tomatoes
Preserved summer tomatoes are a sort of pantry insurance policy: you'll have captured a bright tomato flavor to add to your cooking for the remainder of the year. Use these crushed tomatoes as you would the canned kind you buy at the store, in jambalaya (Pierre Franey's shrimp jambalaya recipe is a good start), tomato soup (this unusual version incorporates fresh goat cheese) or pasta sauce (like this spaghetti sauce, Kim Severson's family recipe). You’ll need four or five quart-sized jars (32 ounces each) or eight or 10 pint-sized ones (16 ounces each); when the time comes to use the purée, simply open a jar and use the purée as you would the store-bought stuff.
Grilled Watermelon and Tomato Salad
Sabzi Polo (Persian Herbed Rice)
The star of this herb-flecked Persian-style rice recipe, by the actor and food blogger Naz Deravian, is the lavash tahdig — a crisp, buttery layer of toasted lavash flatbread at the bottom of the pot. Break it into pieces and use it to garnish the platter of rice, making sure everyone gets a piece. The rice itself is highly fragrant, scented with dill, mint and whatever other soft herbs you can get, along with heady saffron. You need to find thin flatbread to make this; the kind used for wraps is a good bet. It will take some time to clean all the herbs, but don't worry about taking off each leaf. Using tender stems and sprigs is perfectly fine.
Caponata
Caponata is a Sicilian sweet and sour version of ratatouille. Because eggplant absorbs flavors like a sponge, it’s particularly good in such a pungent dish. Like most eggplant dishes, this gets better overnight. It’s meant to be served at room temperature, and I like it cold as well. It makes a great topping for bruschetta.
Onion Pie
Fresh Tomato Soup With Basil and Farro
You overbought fresh tomatoes at the farmers' market and now you're left with a pile of overly-soft, rapidly-ripening fruit. What to do? Make a hearty, vegetable-based soup with those mushy tomatoes puréed into satiny sweetness. To mimic the creaminess of many tomato soup recipes, I often blend softly stewed tomatoes with a grain, in this case, farro. It adds an earthy flavor, and body, to make a tomato soup with bona fide stick-to-your ribs inclinations.
Polenta With Wild Mushrooms and Marinara Sauce
Years ago, I abandoned the traditional stir-until-you-get-a-blister-on-the-inside-of-your-thumb method for making polenta and became a convert to the easy oven-baked version. But then I began working with polenta freshly milled from heirloom varieties of corn, and went back to the top-of-the-stove method because the results were exceptionally creamy and fragrant. This was at the urging of Kay Rentschler, who is the creative director of the Anson Mills website and writes its recipes. She is very specific about the best way to cook the mill’s products, so I followed her instructions for polenta, which are shared here. The flavor of the corn is heavenly, and once it begins to thicken, you don’t have to stir continuously, so it is not tedious to make. You could serve polenta as a side, but I like to show it off and serve it as a main dish (a boon for those who now eschew pasta). It’s a wonderful vehicle for any number of toppings, but my favorite is a simple tomato sauce embellished with pan-cooked mushrooms, preferably meaty, flavorful varieties like oysters or maitakes. If you want to be extravagant, throw a few chanterelles into the mix.
Green Tomato Salad With Russian Dressing
This salad is inspired by one that the late Los Angeles-based chef Mark Peel serves at his wonderful restaurant, Campanile. Green tomatoes go well with Russian dressing. My version combines mayonnaise with yogurt, and if I don’t make the mayonnaise myself, I always use Hellmann’s (called Best in Western states) because it isn’t sweet.
Chopped Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Here’s an easy summer salad that’s always a winner. There are many similar chopped salads served throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, but this version with halved sweet cherry tomatoes is especially attractive. Your own take can be a variation on this one: Feel free to use large tomatoes, chop the vegetables as small or large as you like (roughly chopped has its charms), add other herbs like basil, mint or dill, or swap the feta for mozzarella.
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
The color of sunflowers, this gently spiced soup comes from Yasmin Khan’s “Zaitoun: Recipes From the Palestinian Kitchen,” in which Ms. Khan explains that cauliflower is elemental in Palestinian cooking. Here, cauliflower florets and leaves are roasted in the oven with cumin and coriander until browned, the vegetable’s deep, nutty flavors coaxed out by the heat. Reserve some roasted florets and leaves for garnish, then simmer the remaining cauliflower mixture with turmeric and potato, which adds creamy texture to this thick, velvety soup. Sprinkle the soup with any remaining cauliflower, crunchy toasted almonds and as much fresh parsley as you’d like.
Tomates Farcies (Stuffed Tomatoes)
A simple mixture of bread crumbs and herbs is all you need to make these Provençal baked stuffed tomatoes. Serve them with nearly any summer meal, even for breakfast alongside fried eggs.
Tomato-Rice Soup
Many vegan dishes (like fruit salad and peanut butter and jelly) are already beloved, but the problem faced by many of us is in imagining less-traditional dishes that are interesting and not challenging. Here are some more creative options to try.
Parmesan and Dill Popcorn
Green Tomato and Swiss Chard Gratin
This is a very comforting and pretty main dish with several layers of good flavor.