Rarely doing things by half, my new year resolutions are many and eclectic: eat less meat and grow more organic produce; try to read more and be less grumpy; start jogging again and watch my chocolate intake; learn piano scales and spend less time online. And eat more vegetables! Having said that I'm not one who would turn down a grass-fed beef steak or a free range chicken, as long as I know where it comes from. As I said in my last piece, if we treated meat as an accompaniment and not as the main actor in the theater of cuisine, we'd be better off in health and spirit.
Enough preaching to the choir and let's go straight to my top five vegetarian dishes.
Feta cheese & potato cake;
Halloumi cheese & grilled (seasonal) vegetables with Aioli;
Amaranth, Seitan & wild mushroom stew;
Gado-gado laced with tempeh, spicy peanut sauce;
Baked eggplant Moussaka.
Onwards, Christian soldiers....and everyone else. Kidding. Honest.
Feta Cheese & Potato Cake:
According to Greek mythology, Aristaios, son of Apollo and Cyrene, was sent by the gods to give the gift of cheese-making to the Greeks. No kidding! It was called a gift of everlasting value. I concur with the Greek Gods for I have loved Feta cheese ever since I was introduced to it sailing around some of those Mediterranean islands in my late teens. The one particular dish I remember well, having eaten quite a bit and had to cook it several times, is a feta & potato cake. I added tiny bits of Kalamata olives into the confection because I found the original recipe a tad bland for my liking. And some basil, for added pizzaz! This is great for parties and can be prepared in advance.
For say 20 to 30 medium-sized cakes (roughly same size as crab cakes) you will need 2 kilograms of russet potatoes (or new potatoes), 500 grams (a bit over a pound) of feta cheese, 2 whole eggs, a handful of pitted Kalamata olives which you can mince finely, the juice of two lemons, salt & pepper to taste, and a finely chopped bunch of basil.
Cook potatoes, in skin, in lightly salted water, until soft, about 25 minutes. Drain, cool and remove peels. Place potatoes in a large bowl and mash till soft. Add the feta cheese in tiny cubes, whole eggs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Fold in the chopped basil and it's ready to fry. Sometimes I dip the cakes into a bowl of fresh breadcrumbs. Don't use olive oil to fry, it will be a waste of good oil. Instead use canola or sunflower, and fry over a medium to low flame.
Halloumi Cheese & Grilled Vegetable with Aioli:
Another cheesy recipe I love is halloumi with grilled vegetables. It's hard to beat especially when it's served with a kick-ass aioli (this recipe is from one of my garlic diaries). Also great for small gatherings, can also be prepared in advance and served either cold or hot.
Traditional artisan halloumi is made from unpasteurised sheep and goats milk and because of its higher-than-normal melting point, you can fry it in a bit of olive oil, add a sprinkle of lemon and a pinch of black pepper. It is easy to find this cheese in Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot shops.
Make sure you have a little grill for the vegetables. There's something reassuring in seeing the grill lines in a slice of eggplant or zucchini.
For say 8 to 10 persons you will need 2 large eggplants, sliced lengthways, 2 large zucchinis, also sliced lengthways, a bunch of asparagus (if it's in season), a pound of cherry tomatoes (though if you happen to own a smoking device, smoked tomatoes is great in this instance), 3 fennel bulbs, quartered, 1 dozen field mushrooms, and if you're in the money, purchase a jar of artichoke hearts. Prepare all of these veggies and douse them with some olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt, a dash of black pepper and set aside while you fry your halloumi squares (yep, that's what halloumi looks like, see pic below). Once you've fried the halloumi and sprinkled it with some lemon juice, it's now the turn of the veggies. Grill, baby, grill! It's a very nice dish served with a very dry rosé or zinfandel.
Indonesian Gado-gado
Having spent 8 months in Indonesia, mostly in Bali, I ate quite a bit of gado-gado, and nasi goreng (but that's for another diary). It's a fantastic dish in which you can add or subtract as many ingredients as you like. You add chicken and it's a carnivorous dish that will please the meatheads! But it really is a vegetarian paradise. Here is my take on this wonderful dish (there are probably hundreds of versions.) This is a great dish to cook for a dinner party. Goes well with an Asian brew like Bintang or Tiger beer.
The secret lies in the spicy peanut sauce. Don’t buy it, it’s actually easier to make and it’s a whole lot of fun.
For 6 to 8 people (metric converter here):
1 bunch of young spinach leaves, 200 grams of green beans, 200 grams of red cabbage, 200 grams of Chinese cabbage or Bok choy, 4 carrots, 200 grams of broccoli florets, 200 grams of cauliflower florets, 100 grams of red onions, 6 cloves garlic, 250 grams of tempeh or smoked tofu (tempeh is made from whole soybeans which are fermented, it is a fiber-rich food. It is also a generous source of many nutrients such as calcium, B-vitamins and iron), 30 grams of fresh coconut slivers, 50 grams of diced dried papaya, 50 grams of diced dried mango, 300 grams of very fresh bean sprouts, 2 large tablespoons of toasted sesame oil. That’s for the main dish. I told you it's a vegetarian paradise!
For the peanut sauce you will need 200 grams of roasted peanuts (which you can do yourself by adding a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to them and bake at a moderate oven for twenty minutes or so;) 4 green or red chillies, as hot or mild as you like, the juice of three limes, a small bunch of cilantro, a small amount of soya sauce or if you can find it, buy a bottle of ketjap manis (a common Indonesian kind of soy sauce, and is rather sweeter than Chinese soy sauce or Japanese shoji or tamari. It's pronounced "ketchup", btw.) and least but not last, 2 pints of vegetable stock which can be had via a good bouillon cube brand. Stick the whole lot into a saucepan and bring to the boil slowly, then simmer for half an hour then blend but not too fine, it’s good to keep the sauce slightly chunky.
Whilst the peanut sauce cooks you can chop up the vegs into cubes (except of course for the spinach which can be added at the very last second whole and the bean sprouts). In a large wok (or a fairly big frying pan) pour some sesame oil then add the chopped onions, then the chopped garlic, the cut beans, the broccoli, the cauliflower, the chopped up Chinese cabbage (or bok choy), the red cabbage (it really adds color!), stir as you go over a moderate flame, then add the tempeh or smoked tofu, the coconut slivers, the mango and the papaya cubes. Do not overcook, keep it as crunchy as you like, then add the spinach and the bean sprouts. Mix in the peanut sauce and there you have a bit of exotica on your table. All of the above can be prepared well ahead, and the whole thing can be refried when your guests arrive. Pic of tempeh below.
Amaranth, Seitan & Wild Mushroom Stew
I've been using amaranth ever since I discovered it in Australia. I used it instead of bulgar wheat in my tabouleh, with surprisingly good results. Quinoa is another amazing ingredient to look for when making either salads or stews.
Amaranth seed is an amazing pseudo-grain, providing nearly 100% of the required amino acids per 150 grams. The flavor is very enjoyable, nutty, sweetly similar to malted barely. The texture in my hands is a delicate crunchy shell, encasing a soft chewy interior. In Aztec culture, amaranth was believed to be a magical food that provided superior endurance and strength. Amaranth was food for royalty, and an important part of the native religions in the Americas. The Spanish forbid the cultivation of the plant because of its use in non-Christian religious ceremonies, and the food disappeared for hundred of years.
Closer to home, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (he of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" fame) wrote a poem called Work Without Hope in which he mentions amaranth twice:
"Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloo, O ye amaranths! Bloom for ye may,
For me bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!"
For 6 to 8 persons you will need 2 pounds of mushrooms: shiitake (or if you can't find them, oyster mushrooms are just as good) & button (commonly known as Paris mushrooms) mushrooms (Field mushrooms can also be used, it's all good); 250 grams of amaranth seeds, 300 grams of Seitan (also known as wheat meat); 2 large onions, 6 garlic cloves, 1 pint of apple juice, a knob of ginger, finely minced, a small amount of sunflower oil, salt & pepper to taste.
It's an easy dish to prepare, when cooked it will almost look like a risotto as amaranth tends to get a little "gummy" on the tooth. Take a large cooking pot (your old cast-iron pot will do), drop a little sunflower oil and cook the onions and the garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the amaranth and cover with a pint of water (or vegetable stock if you have it) and the pint of apple juice (this will give this dish a lovely fruity after taste), then the mushrooms (whole or halved, depending on how you like it), the ginger and the cubed Seitan. Cook over moderate heat for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not overcook, and serve immediately. Another treat to this dish is to incorporate a couple of sweet potatoes at the early stage of cooking. It will somewhat thicken the plot, and add to this earthy dish.
And now for the pièce de résistance, my Baked Eggplant Moussaka:
I don't really know why I call it a moussaka. It bears little resemblance to the well-known Greek dish. Perhaps it's plain laziness from my part. I used to make this dish as a kid in the south of France, mostly to impress my girl friends. It is a great accompaniment to roast lamb, or can be eaten as is, with a nice salad. Making it is a bit like brick-laying, one ingredient at a time, super-imposed to the last and topped with grated Pecorino cheese for a satisfying finish.
You would have to use either a high terra cotta or a glass dish to make this beauty.
By the way, this can be eaten hot or cold. In fact I prefer it cold, a hefty slice, a dash of balsamic vinegar and an elitist rocket salad, and I'm in heaven.
I would make my own tomato sauce for this but if time is not on your side, then a good brand will do. For 6 to 8 persons you will need 1 kilo (yes, 1 kilo) of either rigatoni or tortiglioni (the ribbed kind, the difference between the two is size, and we know size matters!); 6 eggplants, 3 whole eggs, 2 pints of tomato sauce (remember, you can halve this recipe if you don't need as much), 12 garlic cloves, 1 bunch basil, 50 grams of pine nuts, a glass of virgin olive oil, 250 grams of grated Pecorino cheese or Fontina (I'm fussy when it comes to cheese but nothing is written in stone, a nice mild cheddar can work just as well); sea salt & black pepper to taste. Before the baking is nearly done, I throw a pinch of dried marjoram or sage on top. Don't ask me why, I would not know. But it tastes great.
Cook your pasta al dente (that is under-done), drain and set aside to cool. Do not throw the water as it will be used to blanch the eggplant which you would have sliced thickly, about half an inch, same as pasta, drain and set aside to cool (it should be in effect half cooked). If you have bought your tomato sauce, I suggest you "recook" it. In a pot, pour a little olive oil and the chopped garlic and add the sauce, then the minced basil and the pine nuts. Cook for a couple of minutes. I would add a dash of balsamic vinegar to this, but that's me. Break the eggs and beat them a little, and pour over the blanched eggplant slices. Mix well with a spatula.
Now the fun begins: oil your glass or terra cotta dish, turn the oven to 220C (428°F), open up a nice bottle of wine, pour yourself a well deserved glass and start assembling: line the bottom of the dish with a layer of pasta, then a few soupspoons of tomato sauce, then a thin layer of cheese, then a layer of eggplant, more sauce, and repeat till you have reached the top. Before putting the last of the cheese on top, press the whole thing down with the help of a piece of china (or a small cheese board) then the last of the cheese, and presto! Bake this for 1 hour at 220C then reduce the heat by half and cook it further for another hour. Let it cool before you serve it, you won't be disappointed.
beach babe in fl has a great series with vegetarian recipes every Monday nights.
And now I leave you with this immortal poem from the inimitable Ogden Nash:
Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.