Nisha Vora

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

One of my favorite party tricks is showing folks that cabbage, a cruciferous vegetable often used in coleslaw, can get gloriously sweet and buttery. In this recipe, adapted from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), cabbage wedges are seared in a hot cast-iron pan until charred, releasing cabbage’s natural sugars. Next, they’re nestled into a tangy, spiced tomato sauce and braised until they are meltingly tender and take on a nutty flavor. Finally, they’re doused in a creamy tahini sauce, which takes the dish to new heights. Pair with any cooked grains hanging out in your fridge or with slabs of bread. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

This easy yet impressive restaurant-quality dish, from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), spotlights one of my favorite underrated vegetables. Fennel bulbs are sliced into thick wedges, seared in a hot pan, then braised in freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth until silky soft and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Finishing with zingy orange zest accents the fennel’s sweetness, while olives and walnuts add a salty, savory, meaty bite.

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

I think of this recipe, adapted from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), as a spin on a North Indian chana masala with the addition of spinach and coconut milk and a South Indian-style tadka to finish. Tadka, perhaps my favorite and most used flavor-infusion technique from Indian cooking, is the process of blooming spices (and sometimes aromatics) in a fat, such as oil. Drizzling it on top of chickpea masala just before serving takes this meal from great to excellent. This has everything you might want in a creamy Indian-restaurant-style gravy dish, including the depth of flavor you typically get only after a slow simmer, but it’s ready from start to finish in a little over an hour. Watch Nisha Vora make this dish in this video.

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Green cabbage, plant-based milk, olive oil and walnuts come together in this surprisingly creamy, dairy-free pasta. When thinly sliced and sauteéd, cabbage softens into silky strands with a buttery sweetness, making it an ideal partner to mingle with pasta. To echo the rich savoriness of a classic white sauce without using cream or cheese, oat or cashew milk is mixed with olive oil, umami-rich nutritional yeast and finely ground walnuts. As it coats the pasta, the sauce naturally thickens while the cabbage practically melts into the pasta. Finish with fresh basil and lemon for a luxurious yet weeknight-friendly meal. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Pantry ingredients – canned beans, garlic and olive oil – turn into a satisfying plant-forward weeknight dinner thanks to the magic of a hot oven. Roasting beans transforms them from soft to shockingly crisp while cherry tomatoes, even out-of-season supermarket ones, morph into glistening, juicy pops of sweetness. While the oven works its charm, whip up a creamy tahini-yogurt sauce brightened by lemon and garlic. The cooling yogurt with warm tomatoes and crispy beans makes for a fun contrast of textures and temperatures. Top it off with arugula dressed with the sweet, garlicky tomato juices and scoop up everything with crusty bread. If you don’t have good yogurt, this meal is also excellent served over Whipped Tofu Ricotta. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Sweetness and warmth mix and mingle in this mostly sheet-pan dinner, with naturally sweet roasted carrots and red onions accented by the warm, earthy heat of curry powder-laced tofu and a garam masala-scented yogurt sauce. Crumbling extra-firm tofu into small pieces and tossing them with olive oil and potato starch before baking turns them into crunchy bite-sized nuggets, offering the perfect textural contrast to soft white rice, creamy yogurt sauce and tender carrots. Finishing with fresh green chiles adds another layer of heat, this one grassy and sharp. While this is utterly scrumptious as a rice bowl, the fillings are also delicious tucked into a warm pita. (Watch Nisha Vora make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

The flavors of shawarma come alive in this plant-based spin featuring crispy shaved spiced tofu, sumac pickled onions, lemony tahini and fresh vegetables. Super-firm tofu is ideal as it doesn’t require pressing and is sturdy enough to withstand being thinly sliced. Tossing the tofu with soy sauce, an admittedly unusual ingredient in shawarma, imbues it with a deep savoriness, and when the tofu is pan-fried, it gets remarkably crisp-chewy. Cooking in batches ensures maximal crispness, but doesn’t require much babysitting, so that time can be spent whipping up the tahini sauce and prepping the vegetables. Cucumbers and cherry tomatoes offer a mix of crunch and sweetness, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Scoop leftovers into pita pockets for lunch. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Humble green cabbage wedges are roasted to charred perfection and made dinner party-worthy with a drizzle of tamarind and a crunchy, Indian-inspired peanut-sesame topping. Roasting cabbage at a relatively low temperature followed by a shorter burst of high heat allows even the toughest parts of the cabbage to turn melt-in-your-mouth tender while delivering deeply browned, crisp outer leaves and gloriously charred bits. Finishing with tamarind awakens the cabbage with a sweet-sour acidity, and the peanut crunch featuring sticky Medjool dates, mustard seeds and green chiles rounds out every bite with its blend of sweet, salty and spicy. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Come tomato season, there is no wrong way to make a tomato salad, but this one from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024) is exceptional. Dollops of creamy ricotta gently swaddle meaty wedges of heirloom tomatoes, while shallots and garlic add a piquant bite. Everything gets drizzled with a mild chile oil and finished with the tomato’s best friends: fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and flaky sea salt. It’s so simple (and fantastic), there’s no excuse to not make it once tomatoes roll into season. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this salad served with grilled bread is one of life’s finest summer pleasures. Bonus: The human body can better absorb the lycopene in tomatoes when it’s paired with a healthy fat, such as olive oil. So enjoy the heck out of that chile oil. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Grating super-firm tofu is one of the best party tricks in the kitchen. It makes tofu not only quicker to prepare (no pressing required!) but also deceptively meaty. In this recipe from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), the grated tofu is pan-fried until golden, then coated in an extremely good, flavor-rich sauce featuring some of my favorite pan-Asian condiments: fruity yet smoky gochugaru, nutty toasted sesame oil, plus umami-rich Chinese black vinegar and soy sauce. The result is delightfully crispy, chewy and super-savory tofu that is shockingly meaty. It’s been described as “spicy ground chicken,” “larb-esque,” and “I can’t believe it’s not chicken.” It’s delicious for dinner, but also tastes great at breakfast. Serve with stir-fried or steamed green beans or broccoli for a quick yet delicious meal. To make ahead, you can grate the tofu and prep the aromatics the night before. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

You might associate zucchini with meh flavor, or with “zoodles” (which are decidedly not the same as pasta, though some folks may try to convince you otherwise). But when you cook it in a hot pan with olive oil and garlic, as in this method from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), zucchini can be exquisite — meltingly tender, jammy and unctuous. Serve over Whipped Tofu Ricotta, garnish with mint and serve with toasted bread for dipping; or fold into a pasta or potato salad. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

This caramelized, sweet-salty winter squash, from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), is so delicious you’ll want to make it every week of fall and winter. When sliced very thinly and roasted in a hot oven, squash becomes chewy and even crispy, its sweetness further coaxed out by maple syrup. Roasting chickpeas gives them a nice crunch, and plating these crispy, chewy morsels over creamy mint pesto makes for a harmonious medley of textures.

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

While it’s probably frowned upon to say this in Italy, I think of pesto more as a formula than as a single recipe. Hence this mint pesto, from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), which is subtly tart and sweet, buttery, lemony and a little spicy. It’s great with most roasted vegetables. Spoon on bread or pita for sandwiches, or drizzle over grain bowls, couscous or a chickpea salad. Pair with crackers, crudités, olives and soft vegan cheeses for a sharing platter. You can also use walnuts instead of pistachios.

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

An ideal weeknight sheet pan dinner features: 1) a protein and vegetable that can be roasted at the same time; 2) a flavorful sauce that comes together in one bowl; and 3) a little pizzazz. Here, cauliflower and canned chickpeas are roasted until browned and tender (along with whole garlic cloves that become divinely sweet). Torn Medjool dates are added near the end of roasting, adding irresistible bites of slightly crisp, caramelized sweetness. While the oven works its magic, tahini is whipped until creamy to act as the bed for the main ingredients and bring all the Middle Eastern-inspired flavors together. If you don’t mind using another pan, toasted pine nuts make for a fabulous garnish. (Watch Nisha Vora make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

This stir-fry, from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), hits all the comfort food take-out notes with its combination of salt and pepper tofu, blistered green beans and a tangle of silky noodles, all coated in a deeply savory, garlicky, salty and spicy sauce. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

Bring this savory bread pudding to the Thanksgiving table instead of the same old stuffing. Featuring rich oat-milky bread and maple-caramelized leeks, this dish, from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024), also hits all the weekend brunch notes: creamy with crunchy and chewy bits throughout plus cheesy, sweet-and-salty, buttery flavors. As my sister has said on many occasions, “This is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth.” If you prefer a crunchy texture with just a few soft pieces, use a sourdough baguette instead of a loaf or boule-style bread. If you can’t find vegan Parm, it’s still great without it.

Nisha Vora · NYT Cooking

With the same luxe creaminess and savory notes of ricotta, my signature tofu ricotta from my book “Big Vegan Flavor” (Avery Books, 2024) works smashingly well in any recipe that calls for ricotta. For a slightly looser texture, use firm tofu. Use this ricotta to add big flavor to any and all stuffed pastas, like lasagna. It’s also great as a sandwich spread or spread onto pizza dough. Dollop leftovers onto grain bowls or salads for a creamy element. For an easy spicy variation, stir in a few teaspoons of Calabrian chile paste. (Watch Nisha make this recipe on YouTube.)