Sabzi by Yasmin Khan

Last Updated on February 2, 2026

Fresh Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day

Sabzi means “herbs” or “leafy greens” in Persian, and in this, her fourth cookbook, Yasmin Khan explores Iranian enthusiasm for fresh herbs. In Iranian cuisine, herbs are feasted upon rather than sprinkled on a dish as a garnish. Khan lovingly recalls childhood holidays in Iran, visiting her grandparents, who had a small rice farm and grew most of the food they ate. Holidays in the agrarian region of northwest Iran were very different from her life in inner-city Birmingham. Her grandmother taught her to milk her favourite cow, and then they churned the butter by hand, while sitting cross-legged on a Persian carpet on the kitchen floor.  Crossing continents, Sabzi also translates to “vegetables” in Urdu. Khan, born in the UK to Pakistani and Iranian parents, has written a vegetarian cookbook that evokes the childhood food memories of both sides of her family.

Sabzi (Bloomsbury) was written while Khan was pregnant. During these months, she craved the dishes she had grown up with, the ones that had nurtured her. While she is not a vegetarian, her husband is, and she wanted to share her cultural heritage of Iranian and Pakistani cuisines with him and, in time, with their daughter. She has recreated vegetarian versions of dishes such as ghormesh sabzi, which Khan describes as a contender for Iran’s national dish. She also includes well-loved recipes from countries where she has worked and travelled, such as Thailand and Latin America. Sabzi is a collection of vegetarian dishes that Khan likes to cook at home.

Whenever I begin to cook from one of Khan’s cookbooks, I get carried away and often prepare too many dishes. This is because the recipes are so enticing and are generally not difficult to prepare. Sabzi arrived for review just as the summer weather peaked and the UK was experiencing a series of heatwaves. We arranged a family BBQ, and I decided to balance the marinated chicken breasts I was preparing with a range of vegetarian dishes from Sabzi.

I am a regular consumer of soups, and when the weather is hot, my favourite is a yoghurt soup. Sabzi includes a recipe for a traditional Iranian yoghurt soup. Along with chopped walnuts, cucumbers and lots of chopped herbs, this soup was deliciously refreshing. It is the first time I have added raisins to a cold soup, and they added a lovely sweetness. I managed to buy the last remaining packet of dried rose petals at my local Turkish supermarket, which Khan suggests as a garnish. The soup looked so pretty and appetising. I had compliments from every family member, which is exactly what the home cook hopes for.

Next, I prepared two salads and a side dish. ‘Great salads, mum,’ was the verdict here. A BBQ always requires a platter of corn on the cob, and Sabzi has an Iranian version of this dish. The BBQed corn has a relish of mashed feta, coriander, lime zest and juice, and Aleppo chilli flakes. The corn looked beautifully dressed with a shower of white and green relish. Having leftovers, I cut the cold corn off the cob the following day, added the seeds from half a pomegranate and had a rather fabulous corn salad.

Tomato salads are the stuff of summer, and Khan has two such recipes in her salad section. I served her spicy tomatoes with walnuts and pomegranates, which is a wonderfully tasty salad when tomatoes are at their best. I used three different sizes of tomato and loved the dressing, which included sumac, Aleppo chilli flakes and pomegranate molasses.

A potato salad of some sort always accompanies BBQs at my house, and Khan’s roasted potato, asparagus, and sun-dried tomato salad made a welcome change from the traditional mayonnaise-based variety. I used the last of this year’s asparagus, which has a relatively short season. It was colourful – red, white and green – and had good textural variety.  If the potatoes are served warm, the mozzarella will melt slightly, which always tastes good.

Khan is a cook after my own heart. I usually serve pavlova to end a meal, since it is baked the night before and simply needs to be filled before serving. I’ve only ever seen delight on the faces of my guests when I bring out the pavlova. I must have made hundreds over the decades. I followed Khan’s recipe to the letter, which was a shift for me because I usually do not use vinegar and cornflour to stabilise the meringue. Cookbook writers seem to divide on this issue. The pavlova was crisp on the outside and marshmallowy within, which is what is needed. Khan’s recipe is perfect for summer – mango, strawberries and passion fruit – but one can adapt the topping for whatever fruit is seasonal.

Sabzi is divided into chapters on breakfasts, big salads, mezzes, soups, mains and dreamy desserts. It truly is a book for everyday cooking, yet there are many dishes that you may want to use when entertaining. I am encouraged by her clear instructions to finally try my hand at Persian rice with saffron tahdig. I will serve it with Persian aubergine, split-pea, and dried-lime stew when the weather turns, or perhaps ghormeh sabzi with mushrooms. In the meantime, I have my eye on the apricot, pistachio, and tahini granola bars. I will also be enjoying the Pakistani dishes. On a recent trip to Jaipur, I stayed with a family who presented me each morning with a masala omelette. I’ve wanted to recreate it ever since, so I was delighted to find a recipe in Sabzi. Not only is Sabzi a book for every day, it also provides vegetarian recipes for every meal. Sabzi is a collection of the vegetarian dishes Khan cooks at home, and now readers can do so too in their own homes.

Sabzi is available from Amazon and other good book sellers for around £20