Last year our synagogue signed up for a catered Persian grill dinner (served takeout-style for pickup) from a restaurant on the West Side of LA, and this year they’re doing it again from a restaurant with kosher meat options. Last year, we weren’t sure so we went with a vegetarian option that turned out to be a little bleak–just grilled but dry unsauced vegetables, including some very-middle-American-style broccoli and babycut carrots that looked like they’d just been thrown in with the more traditional eggplant, pepper, zucchini, onion and tomato. The trays were filled out with huge heaps of bright-yellow basmati rice and a little tub of fesenjan sauce–toasted ground walnuts cooked down with grated onion and pomegranate molasses. No actual protein, though, so I pan-browned triangles of tofu to go with it. It was still all pretty bland, though, except for the charred tomato and pasilla pepper and onion.
Even though we’re going to have a meat version tonight–presumably better, I hope!–before the Megilla reading, the story of Queen Esther is very specific about one of her virtues. Unlike all the other girls who were hauled up to Ahashverosh’s palace for a year of preparation for a beauty contest (only, as with most, without a desirable prize). Most of the contestants dined on all the delicacies of the palace kitchen, but Esther refused any of the expensive meats and ate chickpeas instead. She didn’t tell anyone she was Jewish, but she didn’t eat the meat, claiming she was in mourning. It may have been a factor in why she was chosen as queen–she wasn’t being a glutton while the getting was good.
In Esther’s time, Ahashverosh had allowed his wicked vizier Haman to convince him to send out a decree allowing anyone to attack the Jews. But once Esther exposed Haman’s plot and her own Jewishness, he couldn’t cancel his own decree, so he sent out a second decree allowing the Jews to arm themselves in their own defense.
The celebration of Purim, while joyous and relieved, maybe a little exaggerated, is always mixed with acknowledgement of poverty and violence around us; this year most notably caused by the horror Putin has committed in Ukraine. The parallels are pretty harsh and very timely; there are always people like Haman and Ahashverosh willing to do harm or make excuses. So I have mixed feelings about meat vs. vegetarian for Purim, and about celebration in the midst of and despite the everpresent harsh realities.
The best I can do is to say that yes, especially now, we need to commemorate and to celebrate the triumph of good over evil–but without losing perspective or forgetting. May we have more people like Esther and Mordechai–be people more like them, people who step up. And in the meantime, remember to give tzedakah and g’milut hasadim–not charity, but the justice of providing for those in need. This is the season for that too.
Back to food and cooking:
One thing I’ve been thinking about since last Purim is how to make a somewhat better-tasting vegetarian Persian grill-style platter at home. I did like the restaurant’s grilled vegetables, just not the broccoli and carrot bits that were completely out of place or the tofu I made as a last-ditch effort.
If you have a microwave and a toaster oven or a nonstick frying pan with a lid, you can do something good and vegetarian fairly quickly and get some of the vibe without a lot of work. And grilling will improve winter tomatoes, onions, zucchini, (full-size, sliced) carrots, cauliflower, whatever you have where you are.
You can make a tray of quick-grilled vegetables as a side dish, or you can take the long, stuffable peppers and put in rice-and-tomato, as for dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), grillable white cheese like panela or queso fresco plus a sprinkle of nigella seed or thyme and some minced onion, or my personal and higher-protein/flavor choice, lentil hashu as for stuffed baby eggplants and mehshi basal (stuffed onions), which are Syrian Jewish, but adaptable and delicious and not too far off. The lentil and rice stuffing is flavored with allspice and cinnamon and it grills up nicely, especially in a nonstick pan with a bit of olive oil to create a light, crispy, char on the surface. It also makes light, delicate felafel-like fritters.
Grilled veg side platter
Slice up a couple of pounds of appropriately Middle Eastern grilling vegetables: eggplant, onions, bell or slightly-hot (pasilla, Anaheim) large peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes. Thin carrot or cauliflower slices would be okay too, probably, but they do need some garlic and olive oil and grill spots on them not to look like they were just grabbed out of the supermarket salad bar and thrown on at the end.
Max for the microwave-to-toaster-oven: Two to three pounds of mixed veg as above.
Slice a few zucchini or yellow squash crosswise or at an angle for ovals, Chinese eggplants in chunks or strips, or regular large eggplant in rounds or thin wedges, a large onion in thin wedges, two or three bell or large pasilla or Anaheim-type peppers, not too hot, either in strips or quarters. And a couple of tomatoes in thicker wedges or even quarters to add to the grill tray.
Microwave everything EXCEPT the tomatoes arranged in groups on an open dinner plate, in a large snaplock container with a lid on loosely, or a casserole dish with a microwaveable plate for a lid for 5-7 minutes to parcook, just until the onions stop smelling raw and the other vegetables are a little softened but not altogether limp. Line a toaster oven tray with foil, drizzle on a little olive oil, lay out the veg attractively and add the raw tomato wedges, then drizzle with a spoonful or so of olive oil and sprinkle on minced garlic. Toast for ~10-20 minutes or until the vegetables have some brown/black grill spots and are smelling good.
Alternately, you can pan-brown the vegetables in single-layer batches in a frying pan with a little olive oil and minced garlic, and you can do larger trays in a regular oven but you’d probably have to microwave in batches if you wanted to parcook first–if you’re doing the sheetpan thing and don’t care about how long you’re running the oven, you can probably skip the microwave and just lay things out in an oiled sheetpan and grill around 400-425 F (~200 C). Any next-day leftovers are wonderful on a sandwich with hummus, felafel, or melted cheese, or chopped and added to a pumpkin-based dal makhani-style stew with chickpeas.
Stuffed Anaheim or Pasilla peppers for a Persianish Grill
Anaheim or pasilla peppers, rinsed, deseeded and either whole but hollow or slit lengthwise down one side
lentil hashu, about 1/2 cup per pepper–this is a thick mash of cooked green/brown lentils, well drained, plus browned chopped onion, a little cooked grain like leftover rice or bulgur, a grated or minced large clove of garlic, and a mix of allspice, coriander, fennel and black pepper plus cinnamon and salt to taste. Make the lentils first, maybe even a day ahead. For speed, pulse all the ingredients in a food processor instead of panfrying, and refrigerate. Other quick possibilities with the same kinds of flavorings: canned, rinsed and very well drained chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans, white or black beans.
Microwave the peppers on an open plate or in a largeish snaplock with a lid for just a couple of minutes, maybe 3-4 minutes for 3-4 peppers, to parcook. Stuff the peppers fully with the cooked lentil stuffing and microwave 4-5 minutes in a snaplock or casserole with a lid, stuffing side up. Either pan-brown or toaster-oven the cooked peppers to grill. Serving can be a bit tricky–use at least a spatula and a soup spoon to keep the pepper from flopping open.
Accompaniments
Microwaved basmati rice–saffron or turmeric coloring at your own risk/initiative, probably just a pinch infused in boiling water or a little oil and drizzled on after cooking. Note: Start the rice first so it has time to sit and absorb the hot water while you’re slicing and parcooking the veg.
Pan-browned tomato
Tomatoes don’t hold their shape in the microwave, they break down easily, so to pan-grill tomato wedges or chunks nicely, heat a bit of olive oil in a nonstick pan and toss in a pinch or so of nigella seed and optional minced clove of garlic. When the aroma comes up and the garlic is just turning a bit golden, toss in the chunks of tomato and spread them out a bit. Let them sit and brown before turning carefully with a spatula. Microwaved parcooked chunks or slices of onion are good mixed with the tomato in the pan and help add browning.
Halloumi-style toasted white cheese
Halloumi is the standard for grilled saganaki-style cheese because it holds its shape well. But it’s not available everywhere and it can be expensive. You can do well in the southwest US using queso fresco, panela or even paneer (storebought is fine for this, obviously–you’re trying to be quick) in cubes, triangles, rectangles, whatever, about 1/2 inch (1 cm-ish) thick. Move the pan-browned tomatoes to one side of the pan, drizzle in a bit more olive oil and brown the cheese. You can press the cheese in sesame or nigella seeds or za’atar mix or thyme or oregano before browning–all pretty delicious.
I don’t have a fesenjan recipe to add here–I like tamarind sauce, which is really, really tart, but if you were going for a fesenjan sauce, I’d say amp up the flavor by pretoasting the walnuts and saving a few out for garnish before grinding the rest to powder. Add a little extra pomegranate molasses or a small squeeze of lemon juice to the onion while browning it, and make sure the finished sauce has a little oomph–tartness, toastiness, browned onion, not too bland. Sprinkle on a few pomegranate seeds and chopped toasted walnuts or browned crispy onion shreds.
Chopped Israeli/Middle Eastern salads
You can go with the standard tiny dice of tomato and cucumber with a little oil and vinegar, maybe a tiny bit of garlic and some dill. Or you can go with my large chunky version that includes olives and red bell peppers and yogurt and mint, and sometimes red cabbage. Shredded cabbage lahanosalata. Or a more genuinely Persian herb salad–parsley, dill, maybe some mint, shredded scallions, radishes, maybe a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.
Pita, laffa, sangak, any of those flatbreads will work if you want them.
Happy Purim, happy “grilling” and please remember those in need–your local food pantry and homeless shelter, the refugees from and in Ukraine, and anyone fleeing war, violence and famine. B’te’avon, bon appetit, mangia bene, eat nice, and hazak v’amatz ( stay strong and take courage).
Filed under: Beans and legumes, cooking, history, holiday cooking, Microwave tricks, Revised recipes, Vegetabalia | Tagged: food, Jewish cooking, Jewish holidays, microwave cooking, Middle Eastern cooking, recipes |
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