You Won't Miss the Meat in These "Meatballs"

Middle Eastern cuisine is having a moment. All across the country, diners are flipping for falafel, searching menus for shawarma, and grabbing pita by the plate-ful. One particularly delicious benefit of this rise in fascination with the Fertile Crescent is the exploration of all the region has to offer, moving beyond the usual standbys into a broader investigation of flavors and techniques. Take this recipe from Salma Hage’s The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook, a nominee for the 2017 James Beard Book Award for Vegetable Cooking. Hage brings together humble lentils with a Lebanese spice blend and an umami-rich mushroom paste to evoke familiar flavors, while breaking out of the meatball mold by eschewing animal protein all together. Get the recipe.

Hungry for more? View our entire recipe collection.

Learn more about the 2017 James Beard Awards.

--

Maggie Borden is associate editor at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.