River market in Thailand
This photo was taken by Renato Morbach and shows a floating market in Thailand.
If you have a photo you would like to see featured on the site, please email lizannday@googlemail.com, or tweet @thegreenveggie.
Vegetarian mousakka
After a delicious meal at Ezo’s Turkish Restaurant last weekend, I decided to have a go at making mousakka myself. This new take on the classic recipe uses red lentils and aubergines. In total, it takes about an hour, but it’s well worth it!
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For the filling:
For the topping:
Yummy!
Falafel
Thegreenveggie took a trip to Bristol this weekend and had the chance to sample some authentic Turkish cooking at Ezo Turkish Restaurant, which is located on the bohemian Gloucester Road in St Andrews.
After being chided for not booking a table (the waiter was half-joking, but he did give us a stern lecture!) we were seated at a table right in front of the open kitchen, where we could watch the two chefs hard at work over the grill.
Turkish cuisine is probably best known for its grilled meats, but the menu presented an impressive array of vegetarian options. In fact, with dishes like red lentil soup, feta and spinach filo parcels and grilled halloumi, deciding on a starter (or meze) proved tricky.
Having seen the size of the main courses, my guest and I decided to share a plate of falafel (fritters made from chick peas, beans and spices). These were carefully presented on a bed of fresh salad and were accompanied by delicate swirls of homous.
The falafel were perfectly cooked – crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with subtle hints of coriander and cumin really enhancing the flavours. This was complemented well by the mild garlic tones of the homous.
The menu provided less choice for the main course, with all of the dishes from the barbecue strictly ruled out for vegetarians. However, there were three suitable oven-baked dishes, including vegetable turlu (a kind of stew) and mixed roast vegetables.
I decided to try the musakka, which was made from potatoes and aubergines in white sauce, topped with feta cheese. From our vantage point, I could see the chef produce a steaming ceramic dish from the oven, and the waiter immediately brought it to our table.
There was slightly too much cheese for my liking, which made the top greasy, but the roasted aubergine, which can so often be tough and chewy, was beautifully tender and infused with rich flavours of garlic, black pepper and olive oil.
We didn’t try a dessert, but the baklava (layers of filo pastry with syrup and chopped nuts) looked delicious. Definitely a reason to go back! The meal was good value for money, with most starters priced at £3.95, mains at £9.95 and desserts at £3.80.
When I first started thegreenveggie, I was slightly overwhelmed by just how many vegetarian blogs there are out there. Yet they’re all so different and distinct. Here are a few of my favourites…
herbivoracious
Herbivoracious is a brilliant and very widely read veggie blog, with more than 92,000 subscribers. The aim of the blog is to reinvigorate vegetarian cuisine by promoting modern techniques and bold, authentic flavours.
The blog is run by Michael Natkin from Seattle. Michael worked as a software engineer for 25 years, before deciding his true passion lay in the kitchen. Since then, he interned in a kitchen, published a recipe book and now he’s planning to open a small restaurant.
Michael said: “I’ve been a vegetarian since 1984. Here’s why. I’m passionate about bringing big flavors and good culinary technique to vegetarian cooking. Not to say I don’t also love a big plate of waffle house hash browns.”
This blog is bursting with original and inspiring recipes, which are neatly archived and easy to find. It’s nicely laid out, with lovely big images, plus video and audio clips, which make the recipes really easy to follow. Definitely worth a read.
Veggie Belly
Veggie Belly is another excellent vegetarian recipe blog, with more than 5,000 fans on Facebook. The blog is run by Sala Kannan, who was born in India and grew up with fiery, bold flavours, which influenced her cooking.
Sala is one well-travelled lady and her blog combines insightful travel writing with stunning photography and unusual recipes from every corner of the globe. She describes herself as a software services entrepreneur by day and a hobby cook and food blogger by night.
Sala said: “I was raised a vegetarian and have been vegetarian for most of my life. I love it and will never change it. But you won’t see me preaching vegetarianism. I respect people’s eating choices. I have a husband who eats meat and I have no problem with it.”
Veggie Belly’s greatest strength is its beautiful photography, which makes the recipes irresistible to try and easy to follow. And with pages on home, garden and travel, this is more than just a food blog, Sala talks about vegetarianism in all aspects of life.
vegansaurus
Vegansaurus is a popular vegan lifestyle blog, covering food, politics and news related to veganism. Based in San Francisco, the site was set up in late 2008 and gets over 100,000 page views every month.
The best thing about vegansaurus is its light-hearted, banterous tone, which makes it accessible and fun to read. It also has a wide range of contributors, whose distinctive voices make this site wonderfully varied and diverse.
The site is updated very regularly and has a huge amount of content, making this one of the best sites around for product reviews and recipes. This is a fun, friendly and frank blog. Definitely worth a look.
“It is very significant that some of the most thoughtful and cultured men are partisans of a pure vegetable diet. I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live.”
Mahatma Gandhi, spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)
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Thegreenveggie has been out and about in Shropshire this week and stumbled across a real hidden gem, called Dorrington Old Hall Persian Cuisine. Persian (or Iranian) cuisine is becoming increasingly popular in the UK and the best news is, it’s great for veggies.
It turns out tv chef Jamie Oliver is also an admirer. In the recent series Jamie’s Great Britain, he said: “Iranian cuisine is sometimes called Persian, and there’s a real buzz about these sets of flavours and ideas among chefs, right now.”
Dorrington Old Hall was the first Persian restaurant to open in Shropshire and the traditionally British black and white timber-framed building, which dates from the 13th century, contrasts with the Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Indian culinary influences.
The restaurant’s owner and chef Ijlal Haider recognises that many people have never tried Persian food before, so he provides an extensive buffet, where diners can try a diverse range of freshly prepared dishes.
A starter was quickly brought to our table by a friendly waitress, who was eager to explain all the different mazeh, or appetizers. These consisted of fresh black and green olives, naan-e-barbair (Persian flat breads) and a selection of dips.
The naan-e-barbair, which are the most common style of bread baked in Iran, were still warm and tasted as if they had come straight out of the oven. They had been lightly brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper.
Homous and flat bread
They were accompanied by mast-o-bademjan (a dip made of roasted aubergines and onions in yoghurt), salad shirazi (tomato, cucumber and onion with mint, lemon juice and olive oil) and homous (creamed chick peas with garlic and lemon juice).
All of the dips had rich, complex flavours. The homous was thick and had a strong, garlic taste, but this was perfectly balanced by the refreshing hints of lemon and complemented the cucumber, tomato and mint in the salad.
A “culinary selection” buffet of main courses is available most nights and offers a selection of 12 different dishes, about half of which are suitable for vegetarians. My favourite of these was Ghormeh Sabzi, which is considered by many to be the Iranian national dish.
Made from rose coco beans, spinach, onions and parsley, it is a rich and mildly spicy stew, which was served with steamed basmati rice. The Khoresht-e-Gheimeh, or split-pea stew, which contained yellow split-peas, lentils and garlic, was also delicious.
Dr Haider is clearly passionate about his food. After working as a surgeon for many years, he swapped his doctor’s coat for a chef’s apron to share his love of his native cuisine. He was on hand throughout the evening to talk to the diners and explain the dishes.
He is clearly a talented chef and reached the finals of both the South Asian Chef award and the Shropshire Curry Chef of the Year award in 2011. Overall, it was a delicious meal in a friendly and intimate setting, and it was very refreshing to try something new.
For more information, or to book a table, call 01743 719100.
Fruit stall in Ganeshpuri, India
This photograph was taken by Dey Alexander and shows a fruit stall in Ganeshpuri in India. Here’s a link to more of Dey’s work.
If you have a photo you would like to see featured on thegreenveggie, please get in touch. Tweet: @thegreenveggie. Facebook: Thegreenveggie. Email: lizannday@googlemail.com.
