Vegetarian Lebanese Stew with Peas and Rice (Bazelle with Riz) for #Food of the World

For this month's Food of the World event, we are going to Lebanon. While browsing through the internet for vegetarian Lebanese dishes, I landed on this page with a ton of recipes to choose from. I finally narrowed the whole list down to about 10 dishes, but more than half of them were desserts and I had to resist the temptation of making those rich and creamy desserts. I have them bookmarked and will pace them out and try them in the future.
Vegetarian Lebanese Stew with Peas and Rice

At the end, I made this vegetarian version of Lebanese Stew with Peas. Traditionally this dish is made with beef or lamb mince. I used soy granules/ TVP instead. The highlight of the dish is the Baharat spice blend that is added to the stew. It is a mix of ground spices and it adds a nice warmth and lot of flavor to the dish.
Baharat Spice Mix

Lebanese stew is served with a simple vermicelli laced rice pilaf. Cooking the pilaf in butter and olive oil gives it a nice buttery flavor that goes very well with the stew. I made it for lunch on a cold day and it was very hearty and filling.
Recipe adapted from here. Ingredients: Serves 4 Soy granules - 1cup Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped Garlic - 3cloves, finely minced Carrot - 2 medium, peeled & chopped
Green Peas - 1cup, thawed if frozen Tomato paste - 2tbsp
Salt - to taste
Baharat Spices:
Ground Allspice - ½tsp
Ground Pepper - ¼tsp
Ground Cumin - ¼tsp
Ground Coriander - ¼tsp
Ground Cinnamon - ¼tsp
Ground Nutmeg - ¼tsp
Method:

Combine all the ingredients for the Baharat spices in a small bowl and mix well.
Add 2cups of hot water to soy granules and set aside for 10~15 minutes. Drain and squeeze the excess water and keep aside.
Heat 2tsp olive oil and 2tsp butter in a pan. Add onions, garlic and carrots to the pan and saute till onions are lightly browned around edges.
Add the baharat spice mix and mix well to combine.
Next add the drained soy granules and saute till lightly browned, about 3~4 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, salt and 1½~2cups of veggie stock (or water). Bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 8~10 minutes for all the flavors to mingle.
Finally stir in the green peas and simmer for 2~3 minutes to heat them through. Serve hot with rice.

Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli:
Ingredients:
Rice - 1cup, rinsed and drained
Vermicelli - ½cup, broken
Salt - to taste
Method:

Heat 2tsp olive oil & 1tsp butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the broken vermicelli and cook till it turns golden, about 3~4 minutes.
Next stir in the rice, 2½cups of water and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15~18 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the rice & vermicelli are cooked through. Let sit for 5 minutes before digging in.