These are a few of my favourite exotic vegetarian recipes which hail from the Middle East and Thailand.
The first meal is made up of two vegetable dishes: aubergines with tzatziki (aubergines or eggplant, same thing); for the second, courgettes with Moroccan spices (courgettes are also known as Italian zucchini).
Note: For the courgettes, make sure that you use tender ones, because they will turn out too hard if you don't.
For the aubergines, you will need to first slice about two medium-sized ones lengthways and sprinkle with salt. Let them sit for about an hour to draw out any bitterness. Meanwhile, either you can buy pre-made tzatziki (as I did from Trader Joe's), or make your own.
To make tzatziki, place 1/2 peeled and diced cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with salt. This you will also need to leave for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rinse, drain well, and pat dry on kitchen paper. Mix 2/3 cup natural yoghurt, one clove of crushed garlic, and one tablespoon chopped fresh mint with the cucumber in a bowl and chill.
When the aubergines have finished soaking up the salt, make the batter in which they will be fried, as follows: Sift 3/4 cup plain flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl, adding one egg and 2/3 cup milk. Beat until smooth.
Rinse the aubergines and pat dry, then heat oil in a large pan, dipping the aubergines in the batter, and fry for three to four minutes until golden, turning once. Drain them on kitchen paper. They will be served with the tzatziki (although I just preferred scooping the tzatziki on top of them).
For the courgettes, be prepared for a very pungent-smelling kitchen! First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut all of the courgettes into quarters lengthways, and place in a shallow dish.
Now you need to make the charmoula sauce for the courgettes: Finely chop one onion and blend with the other charmoula ingredients. The charmoula is a mixture of two crushed cloves of garlic; 1/4 red or green chili, seeded/finely sliced; 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; three tablespoons olive oil; salt, and ground black pepper (as preferred). Mix the onion well with these other ingredients and add four tablespoons of water to the mixture, pouring the mixtured over the courgettes. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.
Baste the courgettes with the charmoula after 15 minutes, and then return to the oven, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes until they are tender. Sprinkle lemon juice and herbs (I used fresh cilantro, but you can also use parsley in addition).The second dish, also from the middle east, is a "Koresh," which is a stew often served in Iran and is said to be a favourite of royalty. At first I didn't think it would turn out right, because I didn't have any chicken substitute on hand, nor any tempeh; we used extra-firm organic tofu instead.You can substitute a vegetable/soy product for the chicken in this recipe. It doesn't really matter, because the flavours of the spices and vegetables are intense, you won't even miss the meat substitute at all. I can attest that even dire meat-eaters will love this dish, as long as they aren't the suspicious type of people who won't eat vegetables for some odd reason.
First of all, heat one tablespoon of oil (I like to use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking Mediterranean meals), in a large saucepan. Fry the meat substitute on all sides for about five minutes. (If you were cooking actual chicken, the frying would take longer.)
Add one large onion (chopped) to the saucepan, and fry for about four minutes (until the onion is golden).
Add two large cloves of crushed garlic. We prefer chopped garlic, so this doesn't really matter. Also add about 14 ounces of chopped tomatoes, along with their liquid. Roma tomatoes are preferable. Make sure you also add about 1/4 cup of water to the mixture in the saucepan, along with some salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer (covered) for about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, have a pot of Basmati rice (about a cup) cooking. When it is nearly done, add a square of butter to the top of the rice and let it melt into the rice. This gives it a good flavour, but isn't necessary.
Also make sure you start frying one eggplant (cut into circular slices) in a large pan until light brown (we used olive oil again). Then transfer to a plate. Add three bell peppers* (we prefer red, orange, and yellow), sliced, into the large pan and also fry until slightly soft.
Place both the eggplant and bell peppers on top of the food in the large saucepan. Start with the eggplant. Then layer the bellpeppers on top of the eggplant. Sprinkle two tablespoons of lemon juice over the top of the food (we just cut a lemon in half and squeezed it over everything), as well as sprinkling about one tablespoon of ground cinnamon over everything as well.
Let this cook for about twenty minutes, so that it will be done at the same time as the Basmati rice.
When done, transfer the rice onto plates with the main course spooned on top, preferably with the eggplant and peppers along the edge, although this isn't entirely necessary. Add more salt and pepper for seasoning. Serve.
* The bell peppers should not be sliced length-wise, they should also be sliced as the eggplant, in a circular form.
My third favourite dish comes from Thailand. It is a golden rice simmered in coconut milk with vegetables in Thai curry sauce. This dish consists of two parts: The essential rice dish, and the curried vegetable dish.
For the rice you will need one cup of long-grain white rice (preferably basmati); one cup of vegetable stock; one and a half cups of coconut milk (I get mine from Trader Joe's), one-half teaspoon Turmeric; one-half teaspoon salt; and one lemon grass stalk (I substitute a pinch of finely minced lemon peel instead).
I usually have my husband mince the lemon grass substitute and then combine this with the other ingredients in a small saucepan, allowing this to just sit and soak for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile, we get the other half of the meal prepared by starting to slice and dice while the rice soaks up the flavours.
The second half of the meal usually consists of sliced bell peppers, maybe half a chopped onion (depends on your preference), and of course, the essential Thai yellow curry sauce (we get ours from Trader Joe's). You can use any vegetables you like, and as for the sauce, I don't really like the red curry sauce because it clashes harshly with the delicate coconut flavour of the rice, but that is just my preference. You could use any curry sauce you like, as long as it is Thai. We also like to add small cubed organic tofu to the mix, but again, that's just our preference.
Meanwhile, before actually starting to cook anything, get the rice going. After it begins to boil, one should lower the heat and let it simmer on low heat (covered) for about fifteen to twenty minutes); also, at the same time, start cooking the vegetable curry. This should cook for about fifteen minutes as well. Everything should be finished at about the same time, which makes for nice synchronicity.
We serve this either with the vegetables on top of the rice or separate. Personally, I like it separate because the very faint coconut milk in the rice tastes better when it's not mixed with the curry. I also often like to garnish the vegetables with finely chopped cilantro.
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