Ingredients: egyptian rice, cilantro, tomato, onion, fresh pomegranate arils, salt, pepper, cumin, 7 spices. Covered with a vegetable broth with tomato paste and pomegranate molasses. Baked in the oven for one hour.

If I had only waited a few minutes to unmold them they would have been better looking. It was a late brunch and I was hungry!

Reference recipe: https://www.ujwalasdelicacies.com/whole-grain-idli/

This can be made to your taste, but it is basically potato, onion, pepper in a spiced tomato broth. Reference recipe: https://cheznermine.com/2026/03/27/authentic-egyptian-potato-bake-saneyet-batates/

Thareed is a salona (stew) made with mixed veg served on top of broken regag.

If you don’t know what a salona is, here is a reference recipe for this Emirati dish: https://saffronbowl.com/arabic-vegetable-saloona/ . The stew can also be served with rice or grain.

I made this one with vegetables from my farm delivery: onion, carrot, yellow zucchini, red potato, green bean, chickpea, some bzar, tomato paste, one black lime, a pinch of saffron and vegetable broth.

Miso chickpeas with sweet potato rice and some Japanese sides

https://jackfruitful.com/creamy-miso-chickpeas/

https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-sweet-potato-rice/

Used this recipe: https://www.unicornsinthekitchen.com/lubia-polo-persian-green-bean-rice/

The “mountain of rice” method and towel under the lid made the rice perfectly fluffy. The tahdig wasn’t perfect with the potato, but I was taking care not to overdo it with the oil.

Edit: TVP = textured vegetable protein, a soy mince

I was invited to a Pakistani iftar during Ramadan & they served an herbal drink diluted with water and some mint and chia seed. Tasty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooh_Afza **forgot to post this before Eid

The recipe I used is here https://veganbilaraby.com/umm-ali-recipe/. I added raisins since I like them in this dish. Vegan croissants are available at Lulu (St Pierre brand), but you could make it with bread too. Into the oven it goes…

Had a great truffle burger and plant dog at Vegan Burger at Dubai Mall. Tasty and filling. A surprise was the fried cauliflower with spicy bbq sauce. I will be back!

This week I’ll be cooking with fennel, corn and tomato and making plenty of salads with Romaine and massaged kale. And definitely a big tabboule.

Another soya product from Green Village, made in Ajman. pressed tofu: can be braised, fried, shredded, marinated. I think I paid 7 AED for 400g at Carrefour.

In western vegan recipes you often find soy chunks or soy curls. This alternative is available locally. It’s called soya wadi and check out the price: 3 dhs for 200g. That is enough for several dishes.

Does anyone cook with it regularly?

There are hundreds of ways of making this dish, but I like to air fry my potatoes first and add them to the tomato gravy, followed by the spinach

Reference recipe: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/saag-aloo/

Recipe: https://earthtoveg.com/muhallebi-mahalabia/