Regional Cuisine Recipes

Serve as an appetizer spread on thick slices of country-style white bread, or flat pita bread, or use as a side dish to accompany grilled or roasted meats.

Turkish eggplant pilaf cooked in olive oil with pine nuts, currants, cinnamon, allspice, tomatoes, and a full cup of fresh dill. A traditional zeytinyagli dish served cold as a vegetarian main or mezze.

Beet kvas is a traditional Ukrainian fermented beet tonic made from grated beets and lukewarm water. Six-day wild fermentation yields a deep red, sour drink with probiotic benefits.

Gentle lentil and greens soup with creamy soft lentils, sauteed onions, celery, garlic, and a bright lemon finish. A simple plant-based weeknight bowl that goes from pantry to table in under an hour.

General Tsao was a real person, general and poet who lived in China 155-220AD.

Ukrainian cold fruit soup pureed with apples, pears, cherries, plums, and peaches in cinnamon-lemon broth with sweet wine and cranberry juice. A chilled summer soup bursting with orchard flavors.

A classic Russian vinaigrette salad with roasted beets, boiled potatoes, carrots, green peas, dill pickles, and a tangy mustard-vinegar dressing. Served chilled as a hearty side dish.

In Bangladesh, cabbage is usually available in the market during the winter season, as are tomatoes, peas and carrots. So this dish appears quite frequently at Bengali dinner tables during the winter. In the markets where such vegetables are available year round, banda is a popular standard.

Pseftokeftedes are Santorini tomato fritters mixing chopped Roma tomatoes, scallions, garlic, mint, and oregano into a pancake-style batter, fried crisp in olive oil. Vegetarian Greek meze.

Green pepper, tomato, spinach and peanut butter make a unique quick and easy side dish.

Basic Sauce is used over and over again to slow-simmer a number of foods. It imparts its own flavor to what is cooked, and grows more savory with the cooking of different foods.

Lucknawi dal simmers pink lentils with turmeric and tamarind, then finishes with a sizzling tadka of cumin seeds, fried onion, garlic, ginger, and dried red chili. Sour, smoky, and brothy in the best Awadhi tradition.

Chaat masala, the tangy, sour Indian spice blend built on amchoor (dried mango powder) with cumin, coriander, ginger, and a kick of cayenne. Sprinkle it on fruit, potatoes, and snacks for instant zing.

A dairy-free Greek spinach pie with homemade olive oil pastry, fresh spinach, curly endive, dill, scallions, and lemon zest. Traditional Lenten spanakopita, completely vegan.

Russian marinated herring (selyodka) layered in Mason jars with olives, dried chilis, coriander, mustard seeds, and a sweet vinegar brine. Ready after 5 to 7 days in the fridge.

Tameya is Egyptian falafel made from dried broad beans instead of chickpeas, ground with fresh herbs, garlic, and spices, coated in sesame seeds and fried to a deep golden crunch.