The Vegetable Dishes


Main Dishes without Meat

Tomato Sauce
Fresh tomato sauce is very easy to make, and lends itself to lots of variations. This is particularly good in the summer, when tomatoes are in season. Since the sauce depends on the tomatoes, make sure they are of good quality.

  • tomatoes
  • garlic
  • olive oil
  • basil leaf
    Chop tomatoes and garlic. Heat oil in a pot and add garlic. When garlic begins to sizzle, add tomatoes. Briefly stir, add basil leaf, and allow to cook.
    Variations:Chop onion, carrot, and celery and saute in olive oil before adding tomatoes. Instead of basil, parsley or oregano can be used. To make tomatoe sauce with zuchinni or eggplant, briefly fry either of these vegetables before adding tomatoes and use oregano as seasoning.

    Vegetable and Pasta Casserole
    This a great dish to make with other people, who all have lots of vegetables they do not know what do to with.

  • pasta
  • variety of vegetables
  • tomato sauce
  • mozzarella and parmesan
    Cook pasta. Meanwhile, briefly saute vegetables before adding tomato sauce. Mix cooked pasta and sauce. Place in pan add sprinkle cheeses on top. Bake in oven at 350F until cheese starts to bubble.

    Risi Bisi
    I know, I know, this has meat in it, but since it can be omitted, I included it here.
    Arborio rice (a short, fat Italian rice) is essential for this recipe. If you make it often, as I do, it is certainly worth buying. Risottos can be made with other vegetables as well-mushrooms are particularly good. This healthy recipe reheats well and is easy to make, so be sure to make extra, for left-overs! This recipe can be halved or quartered. Be careful when increasing portions, because if the pot is not wide enough, the rice won't cook properly.

  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 300g stew veal-cubed (can be omitted)
  • 1.5 onions
  • 1 small carrot-chopped
  • 1/4 of a pepper-any colour
  • 2 tomatoes-cubed
  • 2 cloves of garlic-chopped
  • 1 celery stalk-chopped
  • a bunch of parsley-chopped
  • 1 cup of peas
  • olive oil
  • parmesan-grated
    In a pot, heat olive oil and saute onions and garlic, until soft. Add remaining vegetables, with the exception of the tomato, and saute. Add meat, cooking until evenly browned. Add rice, stirring continuously until glazed (basically stir it around for a bit-maybe a minutes). Add tomotoes and then 2 cups of water. Add peas, cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes, on fairly low heat. I usually simmer for about 10 minutes on medium, and then turn the heat down very low for the last five minutes. The rice should not be very dry. Serve with parmesan sprinkled on the top. This may sound strange, but it significantly improves the flavour.
    Helpful Hint: Adding too much carrot, pepper, and tomato will make the rice too sweet. However, it is almost impossible to go overboard with the onion, parsley or peas, which really improve the flavour.

    Couscous
    This dish can be either a salad or a main meal. Makes a large bowl of couscous.

  • 1 cup of couscous
  • olive oil
  • lemon
  • tomato-chopped
  • pepper-any colour-chopped
  • small eggplant-quartered and sliced
  • zuchinni-sliced
  • several sprigs of parsley or mint-finely chopped
    Broil zuchinni, eggplant, and pepper. (It helps to sprinkle some oil over the eggplant and zuchinni). Meanwhile, cook couscous in one cup of salted water, in a covered pot. Couscous cooks very quickly, so once the water has started boiling, one can turn the heat very low, and just let it sit for about ten minutes. When done, sprinkle olive oil and lemon juice to taste, and fluff up with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix.
    Variation: Put 1 tsp of thyme and some lemon zest in the boiling water before adding the couscous. Chickpeas also make a good addition to this dish.

    Broccoli and Potatoes
    A very tasty and simple dish. I eat this all the time.

  • 2 potatoes
  • 1 stalk of broccoli
  • olive oil
    Steam or boil the potatoes. (I think it tastes better boiled, but if one thinly slices and steams the potatoes, they cook much faster). If the potatoes have been boiled, peel them and slice them. (Peeling potatoes after they have been boiled is much easier than before). Steam the broccoli. Be careful not to overcook, otherwise the broccoli is unappealing. Mix the potatoes and broccoli, add salt and sprinkle olive oil over them.
    Variations: Substitue broccoli with boiled cabbage or blitva (known in English as Swiss chard)

    Spinach Pie
    This is actually a real pie, but very easy to make. To save time, one can buy a pie crust mix. However, this is not necessary, nor is a pie pan or rolling pin. Any pan can be used as long as it is deep enough-I like a loaf pan-and a can or a glass can double as a rolling pin.
    For the crust:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1.5 cups flour
  • 4-5 tbsp water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    For the filling:
  • 1 egg-lightly beaten
  • a bunch of spinach
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 container of ricotta
    For the crust:
    Mix the butter and flour and salt until a crumbly mixture is obtained. Add water until dough can be formed into a ball. Roll out mixture on a floured chopping board, and then flip over into a greased pan. Prick dough with a fork.
    For the filling:
    Steam the spinach and drain thoroughly. Chop into small pieces, add ricotta, egg, and nutmeg and mix. Place into crust. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until crust is browned and filling is set at about 350 F.

    Lentil Curry
    This is simple and quick bean dish. Quick, because red lentils only take about 20 min. to cook and do not need to be presoaked. Don't forget to wash them before cooking them. The amounts in this recipe are all approximate, because I don't really measure. I also can't remember if I use ginger, but I don't think I do, so I haven't included it.

  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • turmeric-1/4 tsp
  • cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
  • one clove garlic-chopped
  • chili flakes-to taste
  • a few sprigs of coriander-chopped
  • a squeeze of lemon.
    Cook lentils in about 1 cup of water for 20 minutes, or until tender. If necessary, more water can be added while cooking. Towards end of cooking time, melt butter in another pot. Add garlic, turmeric, cumin seeds, and chili flakes. When they have started sizzling add the drained lentils. Heat for a few more mintues. Add lemon and coriander leaves.

    Gibanica
    This delicious dish takes takes a little bit longer to make, but is certainly worth the effort. Gibanica is also very good cold.

  • phyllo dough
  • a container of cottage cheese
  • egg
  • milk
  • oil
    Mix the cottage cheese, egg, milk, and oil so that a quite liquid mixture is obtained. In a greased pan start with a layer of phyllo dough. Brush the dough with a mixture of milk and oil, and add another layer. Then pour some of the mixture over it, spreading it out evenly, making sure to cover the edges. Continue layering, alternating two layers of phyllo dough (which have been moistened with milk in between) and the mixture until the ingredients have been used up. One should end with the phyllo dough, which is then brushed with oil. Bake in a oven at 200C for about 45 minutes, or until browned.
    Variation: Feta cheese can be substitued for cottage cheese to make borek.

    Shirine's Yoghurt and Cucumber Salad
    This is Shirine's delicious recipe, great with pita bread or crackers.

  • plain yoghurt
  • cucumber-peeled and chopped
  • clove of garlic-chopped
  • dill
  • black pepper
    Mix all ingredients and allow to sit for a bit.

    Mushy Green Soup
    How's that for an original title?

  • 1 potato-cubed
  • about 3 stalks of bok choy, sliced
  • collard greens, sliced
  • clove of garlic, chopped
  • olive oil
    Heat the olive oil in a pot and briefly saute vegetable in it. Add water and cook until potatoes are soft. Probably add some salt as well. Blend the mixture until desired degree of mushiness is reached. Drizzle on some olive oil (extra virgin) before serving. It's not aesthetically pleasing, but it tastes good. In fact, I'm going to eat some in a few minutes. Makes one big bowl or two small bowls of soup.

    Sizzling Frances Magnifique
    Named in honour of Frances, who helped me eat this. The name was a joint kitchen effort.

  • ricotta
  • whole wheat pasta
  • pumpkin, butternut squash, or some sort of squash(peeled)
  • nutmeg
  • butter
  • parmesan
    Cut squash into cubes and microwave or steam until soft. Meanwhile cook the pasta. When pasta is tender, mix all ingredients and place in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan on top, and bake at approx. 350F until the cheese bubbles. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it would be good to add sauteed leeks.

    Tofu Fruit Salad
    I realise this sounds strange, but it's really refreshing when it's hot outside. Try it, even if you think you don't like tofu. Makes a fairly large bowl of fruit salad.

  • 1 package firm tofu, cubed
  • 1 mango, cubed
  • 1.5 oranges in sections
  • 0.5 orange, squeezed
  • grapes
  • 1 banana, sliced
  • any other fruit, we thought papaya and pineapple would be good - initially, we added an apple, but after eating, decided against it.
    Mix ingredients and serve. Ideally, the fruit should be cool. Alternately, the tofu can be marinated in the orange juice ahead of time and then the rest added. Lemon or lime juice probably would also work well.

    Mango Sushi
    Another strange but yummy dish. I was feeling creative.

  • 2 mangoes, cubed
  • sweet brown rice, cooked (about 1.5 cups)
  • sweetened coconut
  • sesame seeds>
    Lump rice around mango. Roll in either the coconut or sesame seeds. Ideally, the rice layer should be as thin as possible, but this is difficult. Alternately, I think normal, white, sticky rice would be better to use, but I haven't tried it.

    Tuna and Avocado Pasta
    A Peace Corps inspired dish.

  • one can of tuna packed in oil (preferably olive)
  • 200g of pasta-short is better
  • one ripe avocado, cubed
  • small chopped onion
  • a chopped tomato
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro
    Add all of the ingredients to cooked pasta and mix.
    Variations: Add a squeeze of lemon and/or mango chunks. But I haven't tried either of these.

    Rosemary Squash Soup
    Peace Corps again - it's simple but tasty

  • butternut squash, cubed
  • one or two tomatoes, chopped
  • one onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp rosemary (or more, to tase)
  • a dash of milk or a spoon of powdered milk
    Saute onions in a pot. Add squash and tomatoes, and rosemary. Add just enough water to cover and simmer until the squash is cooked (about 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the cubes). Mash the squash in the pot (with the back of a fork, a potato masher, or blender). Add the milk and salt to taste.

    Quinoa with Squash and Cabbage
    What can I say, we had a lot of squash. Serves two.

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • hunk of cabbage, chopped into squares
  • hunk of butternut squash, chopped into 1cm cubes
  • fresh parmesan (or Vache qui Rit cheese in pieces)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
    Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft. Add cabbage and saute for a minutes. Add quinoa and stir until it looks glazed (as one would with rice). Add water and squash. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Serve with cheese.
    Variation: Replace the cabbage with any green leaf (Swiss Chard, Sweet Potato leaves, Manioc leaves, etc.)

    Fleckerl
    A Central European dish. Serves two.

  • 200g short pasta (preferably square shaped)
  • onion, chopped
  • a hunk of cabbage, chopped into squares
  • a generous amount of pepper
    Cook pasta until tender. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, saute onion and cabbage until tender. Add pepper (there should be a lot) and mix with pasta. Add salt to taste.

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