Vegetarian

A roasted, stuffed eggplant with a crown of shredded cheese is a thing of beauty and makes an appealing and satisfying entrée.

Dukkah—a condiment of nuts, seeds, and spices—has its origin in ancient Egypt, but this innovative recipe from chef Chris Feldmeier redefines dukkah in the modern spirit of vegetable-based cooking. Chris, who ran the kitchen at Bar Moruno, now closed, transforms butternut squash into a spectacular vegetable main dish with heaps of toasty, crunchy spiced nuts. It could even be the centerpiece for Thanksgiving if you celebrate sans turkey.

Samosas are the traditional, pyramid-shaped fried pastries common in India, especially in the northern part. They are usually filled with potatoes and peas and served with mint-cilantro chutney and tamarind chutney.

This is a quick stir fry that’s packed with flavor, thanks to fresh and dried chilies, lots of onions, and ginger. Have everything ready to go and make the beans when you’re ready to serve them.

A Bharta is a roasted vegetable mash traditionally made with eggplant (baingan bharta). We thought of using butternut squash in the fall and winter seasons because that vegetable is so popular and prevalent in the States. This makes a terrific Thanksgiving side dish— in fact, we introduced this dish on the Thanksgiving menu at Rasika. The tenderness of butternut squash can vary, so start checking your roasting time at the 20-minute mark. That may be enough time for the cubes to soften. Or it may take up to 30 minutes. The same holds true for the cooking time in Step 4, when you want the finished squash to be dry rather than loose. Some squash have more moisture in them than others, so this step could perhaps take an extra minute or two.

Tofu is a brilliant blank canvas for adding flavour to, and the firm variety holds really well when fried. Here I’ve coated it in fiery wasabi paste and sesame seeds before cooking it until crunchy, yet still soft in the middle. This delicate Japanese-inspired salad is simply delicious and works brilliantly with tofu.

To create stovetop Brussels sprouts that were deeply browned on the cut sides while still bright green on the uncut sides and crisp-tender within, we started the sprouts in a cold skillet with plenty of oil and cooked them covered. This gently heated the sprouts and created a steamy environment that cooked them through without adding any extra moisture. We then removed the lid and continued to cook the sprouts cut sides down so they had time to develop a substantial, caramelized crust. Using enough oil to completely coat the skillet ensured that all the sprouts made full contact with the fat to brown evenly from edge to edge.

My father, Ivor, is from a small town in the center of South Africa and, although his family’s background is English and Eastern European, he was raised with strong  Dutch influences. One Dutch passion he passed down to me is his love of black licorice, specifically the salty, chewy sort—not the soft, sweet kind. Whenever we visited family in South Africa, my dad would bring home bags of what we knew as dubbel zout (double salt)—coins of salted black licorice about the size of a quarter. I devoured them every chance I got, relishing the savory, saline exterior before it gave way to the barely sweet, chewy center. Dad’s other sweet vice, which I also inherited, is chocolate. Not white. Not milk. Simply pure and dark. So, it was in honor of him, and our shared love of these two confections, that I concocted this deep, dark chocolaty cake, which gets a touch of sophisticated salt flavor, plus notes of molasses and anise, from what might seem to be an unlikely partner: black licorice. Paired together, the two confections make for a brilliant duo that is both delicious and not-too-sweet.

Banana bread was always a staple in my mom’s kitchen when I was growing up. Over the years, I have riffed on her recipe in dozens of ways: adding chocolate chips,  nuts, or spices; swinging from quick bread to cake; icing or dusting it with confectioners’ sugar. Then, about a year ago, I decided to play with the idea of a banana upside-down cake, topped with banana slices and salted caramel, which both soaks into the cake  and drips all around it when the pan is inverted. That little idea turned out to be a total keeper. Here it is.