Well, as I said, there aren't a whole lot of "exotic" veggies used in the area. And you seem to be differentiating "vegetables" from "vegetarian."
We stopped at our favorite Lebanese restaurant for lunch, today, and had the buffet. Here are some of the non-meat dishes that were out:
Olive Salad
Lebanese salad (cukes, tomatoes, romaine, mint, parsley)
Fatoush (Toasted Bread salad) (carrot, romaine, cucumber, tomato, radish, scallion, red bell pepper)
Chickpea salad
Tabbouleh (Parsley Salad)
Hummus
Tuan
Falafal (Chickpea Fritters)
Carrot & Potato with Garlic
Zucchini Fritters
Lentil Soup
Rice Pudding
As you can see, pretty common veggies: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, radishes, green and common onions, peppers, squash, eggplant. Chances are if I name any vegetable from the region you probably have eaten it, or recognize it with no trouble.
Here's a simple salad that is found everywhere in the region, with minor variations.
Cucumber-Tomato Salad
2 cucumbers, sliced
2-3 tomatoes, sliced
Cumin seed, toasted and coarsely broken
Salt
Freshly squeesed lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Arrange the cucumbers and tomatoes on a plate, overlapping them slightly. Squeeze lemon juice over the veggies. Squiggle olive oil over the veggies. Sprinkle veggies with cumin seed and salt.
Fried zucchini is another dish that's common through the region, with, of course, site-to-site variations. Here's a Turkish version:
Fried Zucchini
(Kabak Kizartmasi)
3 large zucchini
Salt
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
Cut the zucchini in half the long way, peel them, seed them if desired, and cut into 1/8th inch half moons. Salt the slices well and let sit in a bowl of water about half an hour. Rinse well to remove the salt, and pat dry with paper towels.
In a large bowl mix 1/2 cup water witht he flour and stir to make a thick paste. Place the zucchini in the paste and mix well.
In a large skillet, heat the oil. Remove the zucchini from the paste and frey them, in batches, being careful not to crowd the pay. Fry, turning as necessary, until golden brown on both sides. Drain well and serve with Yogurt Sauce.
Yogurt Sauce
(Sarmisakli Yogurt)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
Crush galic in a mortar with the salt. Add it to the yogurt. Mix well and cover. Chill at least 20 minutes until flavors blend.
Beets aren't always associated with the MidEast. But they're more common that you might think. Here's a recipe from Egypt:
Beetroot With Garlic Dressing
(bangar bi-i-toom)
2 1/4 pounds beetroot
Garlic dressing
Boil beetroot until very tender, about 1 hour. Drain, cool, peel, and cut into small cubes, thin slices, or fingers. Set aside two tablespoons of the boiled water and discard the rest. Add the garlic dressing to the cooled water, pour over beetroots, and mix gently and thoroughly.
Garlic Dressing
(Salsit Khall Bi-i-toom)
10-15 garlic cloves
1 tbls vinegar
Salt
Crush garlic with salt until ver smooth. Add vinegar and blend well.
From Israel comes:
Potato and Leek Patties
1 1/2 cupscold mashed potatoes
1 small onion, finelychopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4cup plus 2 tbls all purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beating
2 1/2 tbls butter, melted and cooled
3-4 medium leeks, mostly whites, with a small amount of green, roots removed
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying
In a large bowl mix together the potatoes, onion, garlic, flour, eggs, butter and 1/4 cup water. Mix well and let the mixture rest about half an hour.
Remove the tough outer leaves from the leeks, wasth them well. Slice into 1-inch pieces and boil for five minutes. Immediately shock them in ice water to stop the cooking. Squeeze out the excess water and chope the leeks. Add them to the potato mixture and mix well, along with slat and pepper to taste.
In a large skillet, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and place large spoonfuls of the mixture into the ot oil. Cook until brown on the bottom, turn, and cook until firmand brown on the other side. Drain well on paper towels and serve.
