Vegetarian
6901 recipes found
Green Salad With Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette
This ebullient green salad is dressed with ripe, sweet tomatoes marinated in sherry vinegar and fresh basil. The garlicky croutons add loads of crunchy texture, giving this a bit more staying power. Serve this as is for a substantial salad course or side dish, or bulk it up with the likes of cubed tofu or shredded chicken, avocado, jammy eggs, tuna, chickpeas, cheese or nuts and seeds.
Zaalouk (Eggplant and Tomato Salad)
Zaalouk is a Moroccan cooked salad, similar to baba ghanouj and moutabal, that highlights eggplant in all its glory. Just a few ingredients come together to create a lightly aromatic, herby and melt-in-your mouth dip. There are many ways to prepare zaalouk; what varies is the way in which the eggplant is cooked. It can be steamed, boiled, chargrilled, baked or, as in this recipe, simply cooked on the stovetop with the rest of the ingredients. Zaalouk is commonly served as a starter, however, feel free to enjoy it as a side or as a spread in a tasty sandwich with grilled meat or vegetables.
Vegan Green Goddess Dressing
Green goddess dressing was served for the first time, in the 1920s, at the Palace Hotel, in San Francisco, at a banquet in honor of George Arliss, who starred in the play “The Green Goddess.” Herbaceous, creamy and tangy, the original recipe used mayonnaise, scallions, chives, tarragon, parsley, anchovies and vinegar. This vegan rendition mostly sticks to tradition, but employs tahini for body, basil for sweetness and soy sauce for a flavor that’s similar to anchovy. Keep the dressing thick for a dip, or thin it to coat sturdy salad leaves like romaine, iceberg, escarole or radicchio.
Grilled Broccoli and Halloumi Salad
This recipe steers the broccoli, cheese and raisins from Southern broccoli salad to the grill, with a few updates. Cooked over fire, slender spears of broccoli get sweet and smoky, and the cheese (a sturdy, grillable one like halloumi) gets crispy and chewy. Raisins are replaced with fresh grapes, which skip the grill and get tossed with lime zest to become extra-sour bursts. Shower this dish with lime juice, olive oil and mint for a classic combination made anew. For a heartier meal, serve over quinoa, salad greens or grilled bread.
Green Salad With Warm Goat Cheese (Salade de Chèvre Chaud)
Some dishes are showstoppers, while others are ordinary, unfussy and exactly what you want on a slow evening when nothing need be achieved or sought after. This is a simple salad, with the smallest exalting touch: rounds of goat cheese coated in beaten egg and the sheerest veil of bread crumbs, then gently pressed in a hot pan until dark gold. They come served over a careless toss of greens — you can add fresh herbs like dill or parsley for featheriness and a bright lift — in a dressing that requires no more than oil, vinegar, mustard and a single shallot. Eat immediately, when the greens are fresh and cool, and the cheese is still warm, faintly crackly on the outside and oozy within.
Oatmeal
For a loving bowl of oatmeal you can pull off first thing in the morning, use a trick from Samantha Seneviratne: Cook the oatmeal in a skillet instead of a pot. The oatmeal will be creamier and more evenly cooked in under 10 minutes, ready to be topped to your heart’s desire. Plus, a skillet is easier to wash, making this recipe extra kind to your still-waking-up self.
Lemon Pesto Pasta
While not as well known as pesto alla Genovese, lemon pesto is a delicious variation that adds a jolt of brightness. Used in Italy as both a pasta sauce or spread for crostini, its preparation is similar to classic pesto by combining basil with cheese, nuts and extra-virgin olive oil, but the addition of the lemon zest and juice gives it a unique flavor and color. This simple weeknight pasta sauce comes together quickly in the food processor and can be made ahead, as it keeps in the refrigerator for up to one week. You can also drizzle the pesto over a Caprese salad or grilled zucchini, or smear it over crusty, toasted bread as a topping, as they do in Italy.
Roasted Potatoes
These basic roasted potatoes are a versatile and easy side dish that can be made with just olive oil, salt and pepper, or dressed up with fresh herbs or garlic powder. This recipe aims for the sweet spot where creamy, tender interior meets golden, crispy exterior, but for extra-crispy potatoes, roast them for an extra 5 or 10 minutes. The longer the potatoes roast, the crispier they will be on the outside, though they will become slightly drier on the inside, so don’t overdo it. Baby yellow or red potatoes are called for here, but larger potatoes work, too; just chop them into 1-inch pieces before roasting.
Spicy Tomato and Nectarine Salad
When it comes to savory tomato salads, the iconic Caprese salad feels unsurpassable because its formula is simple but sublime: sliced fruit, bright herbs (basil) and rich cheese. This salad started out basic as well, initially combining tomato with stone fruit and a spicy honey-jalapeño vinaigrette, but surrendered to Caprese’s gravitational pull to eventually include fistfuls of fresh herbs (basil, mint or cilantro) and cheese for richness. (Salty ricotta salata shavings stand up to the zippy vinaigrette without overpowering it.) Seasoning your individual elements to taste might seem excessive, but it builds better flavor. Some salads are built to tower, but this salad feels fancy, fresh and less fussy when layered directly on the platter, served flat.
Kosua ne Meko (Eggs With Pepper Relish)
A hard-boiled egg split slightly down the middle and stuffed with a chunky tomato relish, kosua ne meko is a quick Ghanaian snack sold by street vendors. Classic versions include hard-boiled eggs that have been cured by dredging them shell-on through dampened salt a day before. The relish, referred to as “raw pepper,” can taste different depending on the vendor, but it always has crushed tomatoes, red onions and chiles. For home cooks, this can be a simple dish made quickly (or ahead) to share broadly — at the beach, a picnic, an afternoon cocktail party or a potluck brunch. An asanka, a small mortar and pestle with a rough interior, is used to prepare the raw pepper, but a food processor can also step in. Simply salting the egg before adding the relish, or after, can at least hint at the salt-dredging technique.
Grilled Halloumi and Zucchini With Salsa Verde
A punchy salsa verde can instantly elevate any simply grilled vegetable, but in this recipe, it does double duty, serving as a garlicky, herby marinade and a finishing sauce for chunks of halloumi and zucchini. Firm, salty halloumi, which originated on the island of Cyprus, is a rare cheese that grills well, because of its high melting point. The key to getting a nice char on the halloumi and zucchini is to cut both into pieces of similar sizes, so they make good contact with the grill, and to be gentle when threading the pieces of halloumi so they don’t tear. These would make a nice meat-free main course, or an unexpected grilled side as part of a larger cookout spread.
Crispy Zucchini Hero
Massive and tasty, this vegetarian sandwich celebrates sweet zucchini, pan-fried until golden and crispy. The veggies are tucked into one long soft roll for easy assembly, and drizzled with an oregano-spiked oil-and-vinegar dressing that seasons the sandwich with tangy zest. The zucchini can be fried up to 30 minutes ahead of time; be sure to hold the pieces on a rack set over a sheet tray to prevent steaming and to keep them crisp. For best results, build the sandwiches right before serving.
Chilled Zucchini Soup With Lemon and Basil
During the warmest days, there is no more welcome promise than a no-cook meal. A blender or food processor makes quick work of this peak summer zucchini soup, which requires no cooking and is best served chilled. Cashews thicken the soup while adding a creamy silkiness and a gentle sweetness. Since taste buds don't register the flavors of cold foods as well as warm ones, chilled soups require generous seasonings. Here, the mellow raw zucchini is bolstered by the hefty use of garlic, miso, lemon juice and basil. The soup can be prepared ahead and chilled in the fridge for up to 24 hours or it can be served right away, chilled with ice cubes.
Corn and Miso Pasta Salad
The interplay between the crunch of the celery, the chew of the pasta and the pop of the corn kernels makes this (potentially vegan) pasta salad a textural pleasure to eat. Pasta salads that you can easily eat with a spoon reign supreme, and ditalini’s petite shape — which mimics the size of fresh corn kernels — makes it the perfect pasta candidate. Miso adds savory notes and deep umami flavor to the mayonnaise dressing. This recipe calls for Calabrian chile, but the miso-mayo mix is versatile: You can substitute anything from chopped chipotles in adobo to a spoonful of gochujang for a hit of heat.
Eggplant Parmesan
The distinct layers of breaded eggplant, rich tomato sauce and melted cheeses are what make this version of the Italian American classic perfectly calibrated (and, frankly, easy to make). Eggplant Parmesan is a labor of love, but this recipe streamlines the process so the cooking can feel relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. Long sheets of panko-breaded eggplant slices crisp up gloriously in the oven on a sheet pan, which means no frying. Store-bought jarred marinara sauce works beautifully here, but homemade can lend its own kind of delicious character (see Tip). A fully baked and cooled eggplant Parmesan will keep in the freezer, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. Why You Should Trust This Recipe Eric Kim sliced, salted, breaded, layered and baked more than 10 pounds of eggplants to develop this recipe. He consulted multiple chefs and employed their tips and techniques in his final version.
Zucchini Salad With Sizzled Mint and Feta
Crunchy and tart like salad-e Shirazi yet sturdy enough to sit out for a couple hours, this salad dresses snappy raw zucchini and salty feta simply, with vinegar and oil. But while summery salads can be ephemeral, this one has staying power because its seasonings — a za’atar-like combination of dried mint, sesame seeds and dried chile — bloom in the olive oil for a rich undercurrent of flavor. Serve this dish as a side or build it into a whole meal by adding cooked grains, beans or another protein.
Tomato Cheddar Toasts
Tomato and Cheddar toasts don’t need fussing — just crusty bread, swoops of mayonnaise, perfect summer tomatoes and the sharpest Cheddar you can find. It’s in the construction where things can go from good to great. Instead of cheese that’s sliced (which can be stiff and unrelenting) or broiled (and coagulated), take a cue from Chris Kronner’s burger wisdom in “A Burger to Believe In” (Ten Speed Press, 2018) and stir finely grated Cheddar into the mayonnaise. When slathered on hot, toasted bread, the cheese will melt into a creamy base somewhere between a queso and pepper-free pimento cheese. It has the pluck of sharp Cheddar, albeit in a plush and delightful form.
Summer Vegetable Niçoise Salad
You’ll find the green beans, wax beans, Romano beans and fresh shelling beans for this salad at the farmers’ market, making it perfect for a summer lunch or supper. With sweet cherry tomatoes and fingerling potatoes, it makes a substantial meal. Add good canned tuna, black olives or anchovy fillets too, if you wish.
Chilled Avocado Soup
This chilled soup couldn’t be easier to make, packing a lot of flavor into a quick dish of just a few ingredients. Fresh, green and somewhat tart, it’s quite refreshing on a warm day.
Chilaquiles Verdes
Chilaquiles are beloved all over Mexico and across the U.S. Southwest. Tortillas are fried, simmered in salsa and adorned with a multitude of herbs and proteins that vary with the chefs cooking them. Some folks prefer their totopos (tortilla chips) crisper, while some like them softer. Chilaquiles can be doused in salsa, but just a bit can yield a meal just as delicious. Though it really is worth stretching for the best quality tortillas you can find and frying them to your liking, in a pinch, buying the best tortilla chips you can works, too. Bottled salsa will do, if absolutely necessary, but a quick homemade salsa will produce dividends in taste with relatively little labor.
Baked Feta Dip With Spicy Tomatoes and Honey
Baked feta, of TikTok pasta fame, also makes a tangy, creamy dip when mixed with grape tomatoes that have been roasted in the same pan. Here the tomatoes are spiked with dried chiles, onions and thinly sliced garlic cloves, which get sweet and soft after baking. Serve this warm from the oven with sliced baguette, pita bread or crackers for dipping. To make this even spicier, add a tablespoon or two of thinly sliced fresh red or green chile to the tomatoes.
Breakfast Potatoes
Prepare a batch of oven-roasted breakfast potatoes, and you’ll reap the rewards over the next few days. Eat them right out of the oven as a snack, or as a side to scrambled eggs or roast chicken, then tuck leftovers into a breakfast burrito or pile on top of a salad. The recipe is simple and mostly hands off; the potatoes just need to be tossed every so often for even crisping. While russets can be used, Yukon Gold potatoes are soft and creamy, and the longer they roast, the crispier the outsides will become. (Just don’t overdo it, or they’ll dry out.)
One-Pan Zucchini-Pesto Orzo
Keeping pesto on hand (store-bought or homemade and frozen) is one of the greatest kitchen time-savers, since stirring just a spoonful into a dish can add so much herby, garlicky flavor. Here, pesto builds on a pan of orzo loaded with zucchini and onions that have been sautéed together until golden brown. Cooking the orzo in vegetable or chicken stock bolsters the pasta’s flavor as the broth reduces into a silky sauce. Then, pesto is added at the very end to preserve its brightness. Finally, just before serving, a caprese-like mix of marinated mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh mint is stirred into the pan. Filled with vegetables and milky cheese, this dish is especially satisfying and very easy to make.
Melon Salad With Pistachio Dukkah and Basil
Forget the beach, summer melons are the biggest reason to look forward to hotter temperatures. Run by husband and wife team Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh, Norwich Meadows Farms in upstate New York grows some of the best local produce using traditional techniques from Egypt. Their melons burst with sweet, floral nectar that plays off the basil perfectly, and the dukkah is a nod to the Egyptian farmers that work on their farm. But don’t worry if you can’t get a Norwich melon, this dukkah can exalt any supermarket fruit. A crunchy, nutty spice blend typically made with a widely varying variety of pounded nuts, seeds and spices, dukkah can be found throughout Egypt, sold in tightly wrapped newspaper cones as a quick snack. Be sure to hold onto any leftover dukkah; it’s great with crudités or mixed with olive oil to make a quick dip for warm bread.