Ashy's vegetarian recipes
©Ashy Macbean 2004
I've traveled in quite a few different countries, but so far Turkey has proven the most difficult for finding vegetarian food. This isn't because there aren't any vegetarian dishes in Turkish cuisine. There are lots and most of them are delicious. This recipe is just one example. The reason I found it so difficult was partly because I spent some of my time travelling in quite remote areas on the Anatolian Plateau, where the population centres were small towns and villages with little choice in the way of eating establishments and a meat-loving clientele to cater for. That wasn't the only reason though. There's also the fact that in Turkey, the type of restaurants that have a menu are usually only open in the evening. During the day the only eating establishments open for business tend to be doner kebab stalls.
The result was that during my travels I would load up on fuel in the morning (a very pleasant thing to do - have a look at my Turkish breakfast recipe) then snack on tea and bread during the day and have a more substantial meal at night. Most (I might even safely say 'all') main dishes on Turkish restaurant menus are meat based, but that's okay. Every good restaurant has a glass-fronted cabinet full of delicious side dishes and starters, the majority of which are vegetarian. I've already written up recipes for some of them - see for example patlican salatasi, Turkish-style green beans and cacik. And, of course, there's also tomato pilau.
This would probably be regarded as a garnish for some burnt-meat-on-a-stick type of dish, but who says you have to do it that way? I often dined on tomato pilau with a couple of side dishes and it was a more than adequate meal. I never asked anyone for the recipe but here's how I reckon they did it.
Ingredients
3 or 4 tomatoes
1 onion
1 and a half mugs of rice
2 mugs of water
A pinch each of dried thyme and oregano
A small bayleaf
A little crushed black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
Chop the tomatoes and set aside for a few minutes. Chop the onion and fry it in a little olive oil, in a deep pan (suitable for cooking rice in) and when the onion is golden, add the chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and herbs. Stir and cover the pan for a minute to soften the tomato, then add the rice and water. Stir once then bring to the boil on a fairly high heat. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, turn the heat down as low as possible, stir the rice once more and cover the pan tightly. Leave until the rice is soft and all the water has been absorbed. This will probably take about twenty five minutes or so. Before serving, give the mixture a gentle stir to mix all the ingredients.
As well as the dishes mentioned above, you
could try tomato pilau served as a garnish with various cutlets.
It also makes a tasty light meal served on its own or just with some cacik.