Regional Cuisine Recipes

Lobio tkemali, a Georgian red bean dish dressed cold in a tangy sauce of prunes, tamarind, and balsamic, spiked with coriander, fenugreek, and chili. A vegan Caucasian bean salad bright with cilantro.

Greek onion soup with yogurt, potato, garlic, marjoram, and bay leaves simmered in stock. A creamy, tangy vegetarian soup ready in 30 minutes that's lighter than classic French onion.

Rich and earthy porcini mushrooms in a traditional Italian soup base. No need to hunt for the lone mushroom piece like from a can. Loaded with rich flavor.

Old fashioned scones bake five-ingredient British biscuits in a hot oven for tender, lightly sweet rounds ready in 30 minutes. Serve warm with butter, cream, and jam.

Yemenite haroset with dates, figs, raisins, walnuts, and almonds blended with sweet wine, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. A richly spiced Passover tradition from Yemen.

Moustokouloura (Greek wine must cookies) shaped into oval wreaths with olive oil, petimezi, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and orange. A traditional vegan Greek cookie with a crunchy, spiced bite.

A spicy vegetable stew - easy to make. Some find that the flavors of the vegetables don't stand out unless you put in a lot of tabasco. But not everyone likes it hot. Just add enough to make the stew seem spicy to you.

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.

Traditional Indian side dish, tasty and easy to make.

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.