The reason why there aren’t any totally vegetarian restaurants in the country is simple. Lebanese cuisine is so vegetarian friendly that every restaurant will feature a treasure of veggie food. After all, Lebanese cuisine has been touted as gourmet health food from Melbourne to Montreal.
Vegetarian dishes abound in the Levant for two main reasons: first, it is a must during Easter lent period, and second, in less prosperous times during the last couple of centuries, housewives and grandmothers had turned to less-expensive vegetarian versions of meatier dishes to feed a family of hungry mouths.
Today, these old-standby dishes and Easter delights have become in vogue, ever since the West discovered that a vegetarian diet is actually healthier. The hype about mad-cow disease and avian flu helped speed up the vegetarian renaissance too.
Despite copious amounts of shawarma, kebabs, beef and chicken, the Lebanese have rediscovered a cuisine choc full of delicious vegetarian goodies rich in protein. Such dishes as the once-lowly mjaddara (lentil-rice dish) or burgul bitfeen (cracked wheat, chickpeas and tomato served with yoghurt) provide more than a healthy dose of daily protein and nutrients. Even desserts such as baklava and mouhalabieh are protein-laden with their nuts and milk respectively, not to mention the cheese-rich knafeh. (Just remember to go light on the syrup). Another bonus for vegetarians is the succulent array of common and not so common fresh fruits and vegetables, from persimmons and loquats to sweet peas and artichokes.
It is, however, the Lebanese meza that takes the cake when it comes to healthy vegetarian dishes. Stuffed vegetarian vine leaves, garlic labneh (strained yoghurt), white cheese with country tomatoes, broad beans in olive oil or tomato sauce, cheese rolls, the tangy chickpea dish called balila and the filling plate of foul (fava-bean dip) with a tad of olive oil are just a few. In winter, yellow lentil soup and brown lentil soup provide hearty starters.
Vegetarians also have their fair share of main dishes, including the inventive liar’s kibbeh filled with nuts, chickpeas and a lemony sumac-based spice mixture instead of minced meat. The upside-down cauliflower pot, makloubeh to connoisseurs, can also be tweaked with soy meat to create a superb meat-like rice dish that could fool most people. So can dishes like baked open-face aubergines stuffed with a peppery tomato and soy-mince mix, and served with a side of Egyptian or basmati rice.
Mediterranean creativity has constantly improved upon vegetarian foods, such as filling regular spinach pies with wild thyme and cheese, or stuffing zucchini and cabbage leaves with spiced-up soy meat and topping it with an onion-tomato salsa. Some home cooks have even filled carrots, tiny eggplants and cucumbers instead of zucchini, with delectable vegetarian stuffing. Swiss chard stuffed with a tangy, delicious rice mix is also on many vegetarian menus, so is 'fattet hommus', a chickpea dish topped with warm yoghurt-garlic sauce, Arabic-bread croutons, and toasted pine nuts.
Then there’s vegetarian street fare such as double falafel sandwiches wrapped in bread with a load of vegetables and tahini sauce, as well as zaatar pies (man’ousheh) and cheese pies that may be stuffed with fresh tomato, cucumber, mint and olives on demand.
Finally, worth mentioning are some of the notable vegetarian-friendly venues in Beirut such as La Tabkha in Gemmayze with its sumptuous buffet and daily specials, as well as Abdulrahman Hallab in Tripoli which is famous for its soy-based meat pies and cheese-based desserts. Needless to say, both these interesting places will figure into Lebanon gourmet’s tour.