We’ve been cooking regularly for vegetarian friends this year, using recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Guardian column and his new cookbook, Plenty. Every dish has been an unqualified success – hearty and satisfying, with subtle, interesting flavours.
Last night’s dinner was perhaps the best to date. We began with Ottolenghi’s two potato vindaloo, a tasty combination of sweet and waxy potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums and shallots, flavoured with an array of spices.
This was paired with a new rice dish from the Guardian website. Instead of mixing wild rice and Basmati as specified, we substituted smoked rice that we’d purchased a few months ago in Marrickville. The flavours matched the vindaloo perfectly. It was simple to construct – drained tinned chick peas and spices were fried briefly, and then combined with the cooked rice, currants, herbs and fried onions.
Our third dish of the night was Ottolenghi’s beetroot, yoghurt and preserved lemon relish, made with fresh roma tomatoes instead of tinned. Served with yoghurt, it was a perfect accompaniment to the other two dishes!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Wow. That relish. I mean it all looks terrific, but that relish looks divine (particularly in my snowy world). Definitely saving back to try when beets are back in season–sometime (or so it feels) in the next millennium.
It was sublime, Mark, particularly with the preserved lemons! It will be sunny there again before you know it, hope you’re well hunkered down in the meantime! :)
What a wonderful selection of dishes and those photos have me drooling once again – I haven’t made that particular relish but I love beetroot relishes, sharp with horseradish, sweet with roasted tomatoes, with lemon, with cumin, with yoghurt… oh how I love them (wipes chin hastily).
It’s so great when you find a cook/writer who cooks with all your favourite ingredients like Yottam Ottolenghi, you feel as if they know you and your cupboards/fridge before you start.
Cooking these days is so ingredient driven that it is always a bonus when you can relax and enjoy the combination of flavours and techniques that these recipes offer that you describe so enticingly above.
Jo, we used to eat out with these friends all the time, and it was so hard to find decent vegetarian fare for them. We only started cooking for them when we got the Plenty cookbook, and it’s been enormous fun. This is our third dinner with them, and we haven’t repeated a dish yet. I think you’ve nailed the point with Ottolenghi recipes, it’s less about finding one special ingredient, and more about clever combinations of interesting flavours. It’s a bit like people who can instinctively match their clothes – something I’m particularly abysmal at (someone once asked me if I’d dressed in the dark! :)).
Luscious looking stuff! Does Ottolenghi always include an Indian touch in his dishes?
Doc, lots of middle eastern influences as well – Ottolenghi grew up in Israel, and his partner Sami Tamimi in the Arab part of Jerusalem. But there are also other Asian influences – Malaysian, Vietnamese to name a couple – as well as the more traditional European style dishes (as I flick through Plenty, I can see a Spanish paella and a Mediterranean feta and ricotta tart).
They look lovely, Celia – three I haven’t tried but perhaps ought to. I can really recommend his Cauliflower Cake (that’s savoury not sweet by the way!) just make sure you are generous with the sesame seeds on top.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/02/cauliflower-cake-recipe-yotam-ottolenghi
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
http://www.hopeeternalcookbook.wordpress.com
Oooh Hope, thank you, that’s one that isn’t in the Plenty book, I’ll go check it out now! Cheers! :)
Yeah, Vegetarian! That looks so tasty!
I love garbanzo beans. Must try these.
Maz
It all looks very tempting. I love curries and that looks like a nice mix of textures, colours and flavours. I really must get that book out and start using it – I’ve still only made one recipe so far.
I finally looked through the Ottolenghi book about a week ago, so many tasty things to be made!
I love the look of the potato vindaloo. Did your friends enjoy it all?
These dishes sound so exciting! I’ve never tried smoked rice before. I’ll have to see if I can find some around here. My husband is definitely a meat & meat kind of guy, and I really miss vegetables sometimes. I’ll have to try these dishes (or variations of) on him to get more vegetables into our diet.
I love anything with beetroot in it.
Maz, the rice was quite easy to make, and very delicious! It was a last minute addition to our menu – we had originally planned to make plain rice. Having said that, it went soooo well with the vindaloo – the currants were surprisingly unsweet and didn’t distract from the curry at all!
Choc, it is a great cookbook! Great source for an interesting vegetarian Christmas dish!
Brydie, we all loved the food! Everyone had their own favourites – for me the beetroot relish really shone! Are you planning to buy the book? If so, strongly suggest you consider getting it from the UK – with our dollar the way it is at the moment, you’ll probably get it landed from amazon.co.uk for about A$32.
Cat, the Ottolenghi guys aren’t vegetarian either, but they wonderful recipes which are more than simply an assortment of side dishes (which is so often what a veg’n ended up eating at restaurants). I think many of their dishes could be adapted to include some meat in them.
Deb, you and me both! :)
I always prefer shallots to onions in these kinds of dishes. Sweeter, smoother, more caramelised.
Celia
I have been hearing more and more about Yotam and his book Plenty. It seems right up your alley. I’d like to tell you of another book you might like if you don’t already have it. Nigel Slaters Tender One of my all time favorites. I’ve been away for awhile and have missed your posts. I look forward to them every week. I wish we were on the same growing schedule. Enjoy your sunshine and garden. Have a wonderful Holiday season. Those dishes looked amazing I’m off to try a few right now. B:)
Ooh this is a great teaser for when I get the Plenty book for Xmas! I love the look and sound of that curry (the rest all looks great too!). Beautiful pictures too.
I am soo making that relish. littlej and I love beetroot and usually have some in the vege crisper. I’ve got some smoked rice in the pantry, but not used it yet. I was thinking of using it for half the rice in a paella? I think it would be perfect with that spicy vindaloo. Yumm…
Lovely mouth watering pictures! I would love to sit quietly at your table and just taste a little bit of everything!
Fabulous recipes Celia. It’s easy to understand why it was such a success and I am always looking for new vegetarian recipes as we are meeting more and more “veggies”.
:-) Mandy
I love anything with beetroot. Recently my daughter came home with some golden beetroot. It tastes different. Anyone know of any good recipes with golden beetroot? There is one left.
Wow!!!!! Those dishes look beautiful. I’ll have to look up his book and site. A beautiful kitchen table again Celia… Craig
What a feast!! I walked past the original Ottolenghi last week and thought of you.
Peter, they’re not as accessible here as regular onions, but we do look out for them whenever we can, particularly for Asian curries. Hmmm. Maybe we should plant some…
Beth, I love Nigel Slater! We bought his dvd from Amazon UK recently, and have enjoyed it enormously. I have Tender, but haven’t yet made anything out of it. I do love his style though, both in writing and cooking. Hope you’re having a fabulous festive season too! :)
Sarah, you are soooo going to love this book! ;-)
Chef, the smoked rice cooks with an amazingly smoky aroma, I think it would be great in a paella, although as you say, probably not all on its own.
Heidi, I would love to have the opportunity to share a meal with you. That would be blissful!
Mandy, thank you! We seem to have more and more vegetarian friends as time goes on as well.
Frances, I’ve never heard of a golden beetroot, will look out for it!
Craig, thank you! All the recipes in the book are on his blog, so if you have a decent portable internet device, you might not actually need it. Having said that, I like being able to flip and bookmark pages.
Anna, have you ever actually eaten in there? Look forward to seeing you soon, I’ve seen both your siblings in the last 48 hours! :)
What a feast! The best thing about it is it’s healthy and still delicious! Your vegetarian friends are lucky.
that relish looks fantastic – what a brilliant colour!
Yottam is really my favourite cookbook author this year – I’ve yet to have a dud out of either of those books.
Wow, with this amazing array and flavour combi, I really have to cook more for my vegetarian friends.
It does make a difference when vegetarian food is hearty and full of interesting flavours…and it does make me feel like I have not missed out on meat.
Btw, do you have a curry leaf plant?
Celia my Xmas pressie from you arrived today (egg snipper) – thanks! It’s quite a heavy and substantial tool isn’t it? I also received my order of (400!) book darts yesterday. They are so dainty and the tins are gorgeous. They also sent me an extra 30 piece tin as a thank you. They’ll be making extra little surprise pressies for the women in my family.
This is enough to make a girl turn vegetarian! I really liked the smoked rice with a curry too! :D
Brittany, thank you! Actually, we’re the lucky ones, they’re wonderful friends! :)
A, I’m in complete agreement with you, Ottolenghi’s two cookbooks have been the find of the year for me, I must have made a dozen or more recipes from them already!
Soy, thank you – I know exactly what you mean, it’s great when vegetarian food is so good that you don’t miss the meat! I don’t have a curry leaf plant, but my mother does, so I’ll occasionally raid her tree and freeze a whole lot of leaves. Works very well! :)
Sarah, that’s great, thanks for letting me know! So happy you’re happy with your book darts, I love both the darts and the company! Spread the word, let’s keep them in business. :)
Lorraine, thank you for the headsup about the smoked rice, love. It was a real winner in this dish!