Vegetarian Recipes From Around the World

In season is the time to buy. (In most countries of the world, where refrigeration is still a luxury, it is the only time to buy.) In the United States, we have great diversity in seasonal shopping, and newspapers often list the best buys at farmers’ markets or similar produce centers. And, of course, if you’re not already raising your own vegetables, consider picking up a spade. Subsistence farming is the normal way of life around the globe.

For the colder months, don’t forget minigardens for powerfully good eating. Your kitchen can produce impressive quantities of sprouts — alfalfa, mung and soybean…radish, cabbage, lentil and wheat berry.

Canned goods also have seasonal fluctuations. Shop ahead, filling your larder as distributors seek to get foods out of the warehouse and off the supermarket shelves to make way for new harvests. Watch for such items as green beans, peas, corn, tomato products, frozen fruits and vegetables, and even nuts.

Vegetarian Staple Foods

Throughout most of the world, people subsist on a few foods that can actually be counted on one hand: rice, wheat or similar whole grains; corn; and potatoes or other roots and tubers. Add dried beans and you have the world’s least expensive foods. What’s more, these basic edibles require little processing (they’re most nutritious when least processed), store easily in limited spaces and lend themselves to a variety of cooking methods. Let’s look at several of them more closely.

Legumes. Among the first plants ever cultivated, beans are still a great bargain. They’re rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, and when paired with whole grains, nuts and seeds, or dairy products, they provide complete proteins capable of replenishing the body’s needs. Today, even greater emphasis is being placed on legumes as part of the solution for a hungry world that cannot hope to exist with meat as a primary protein source.

Of all legume dishes, one of the simplest to prepare is dhal. This Indian standard may be seasoned to suit your tastes and served over a bed of rice as a nutritious main dish. The following recipe adds cabbage, a “hardware vegetable” that’s easy to store for long periods of time.

Dhal With Cabbage

• 1 cup of lentils or yellow split peas
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 cups (or more) of water or vegetable stock
• 2 cups of shredded cabbage
• ¼ cup of olive or vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic (or ½ teaspoon of garlic powder)
• 1 small tomato, diced (or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• ½ teaspoon of mustard
• ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of ginger
• ¼ teaspoon of ground coriander
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice salt to taste

In a saucepan, boil the lentils or peas and the first onion in the water for about 15 minutes. Next, add the cabbage and continue cooking until the lentils are soft, adding more water if needed. Now, in a skillet, heat the oil and saute the second onion and garlic until they’re golden, then add the tomato and seasonings (except the salt) and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir the mixture into the lentils, add salt as desired, and serve the dhal over steaming-hot brown rice. Accompany the dish with such condiments as sliced bananas, cucumbers with yogurt, or chopped tomatoes, green peppers and raw onions. This recipe will provide four portions.

Here’s another easy-to-prepare legume dish, one that’s popular in the Caribbean.

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

• 1 pound of black or turtle beans
• 3 cups of water or vegetable stock
• ½ cup of olive or vegetable oil
• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons of tamari
• ¼ cup of wine vinegar
• hot cooked rice
• onion and hard-boiled eggs for garnish

Rinse the beans and cover them with water to soak overnight. The next day, drain the legumes, add about 3 cups of fresh water, and bring to a boil. While they’re cooking, sauté the onion, garlic and green pepper in oil, and when tender, add them to the beans along with the seasonings, tamari and wine vinegar. Cover the pot and simmer the mixture until the beans are soft, adding more water if needed. Serve with hot brown rice and a garnish of chopped raw onion and sliced hard-boiled eggs. This recipe provides six generous portions.

Another way to use legumes is in sandwich fillings. Falafel, a Middle Eastern dish, is made by forming a bean mixture into small balls, deep-frying them, and tucking them into pita bread.

Falafel

• 4 cups of cooked garbanzo beans (2 cups soaked overnight and boiled until soft)
• 1 medium potato, cooked and mashed
• 1 or 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt (or more)
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• ½ teaspoon of ground coriander or cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon of black pepper dash of cayenne juice of
• 1 lemon
• flour or fine bread crumbs
• vegetable oil

Drain and mash the cooked beans, then combine them with the potato, egg, onion, garlic, parsley, spices and lemon juice. Chill the batter well, then form it into walnut-size balls and dust each one with flour or bread crumbs. Fry the rounds in 1 ½ inches of hot oil in a heavy skillet until browned, then drain them on brown paper and serve them stuffed into pita bread, rolls or french bread and garnished with yogurt, chopped tomatoes and onions or shredded lettuce and tahini dressing. This recipe will feed about six.

Whole grains. In the Western world, we are just now rediscovering the importance of using whole grains. This group of foods requires only small additions of legumes or dairy products to create complete protein combinations. Serve barley as a side dish, millet as porridge and oats not only for cereals and breads but also — buttered and browned — for crumb toppings. Rice, perhaps the most universal food, can be served in main dishes, desserts and salads.

The Japanese call rice go-han, with han meaning “rice” and go meaning “highest reverence.” This is the staple food for two-thirds of the world’s people. For the most nutrition, rely on brown rice, which has the germ and most of the bran layer intact. One cup of brown rice provides 15 grams of protein and 154 grams of carbohydrate, while one cup of white rice has only about 4 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrate. Brown rice also has double the iron and triple the calcium, niacin and B1 and B2 vitamins, and it’s high in phosphorus and sodium. What’s more, brown rice just plain tastes better!

To save time and energy, always make rice in double batches, then use it in casseroles, egg dishes, salads, puddings and stir-fried meals. Fried rice is quick to fix and unbeatable as a tasty money saver. Vary the dish by adding onions, shredded carrots, slivered green peppers and beans, minced cauliflower or broccoli, fresh sprouts and thinly sliced zucchini. To turn the rice into a complete meal, add eggs, tofu or cheese.

Pilaf is served in India and Pakistan for festive occasions, and can be made with just about any grain. Try substituting millet, cracked wheat, triticale or barley in the following recipe.

Basic Rice Pilaf

• 1 onion, diced
• ¼ cup of chopped mushrooms
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 stalk of celery or a green pepper, diced
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil
• 1 cup of raw brown rice
• 2 cups of vegetable stock or water
• 1 teaspoon of curry powder or a combination of the following:
• 1 bay leaf a few cardamom seeds
• ½ teaspoon of turmeric
• ½ teaspoon of ginger
• ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon of cumin
• ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• ½ cup of chopped peanuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or almonds
• ½ cup of raisins, currants, or other dried fruit
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Sauté the vegetables in the oil. When they’re tender, add the rice and stir over moderate heat until the grains are dry. Then add the spices (except the salt) and the vegetable stock, cover, and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Sprinkle in nuts, dried fruit and salt and cook 10 minutes more. Check the seasonings, adding more salt if desired, and fluff just before serving. To make pilaf a main dish, melt cheese over the top or serve it with beans or a yogurt salad.

Originally published as “From the Cookfires of the World” in the January/February 1985 issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS.