[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

It's been a good year for vegetarian food here in New York City, where I've tasted everything from Indonesian food in Elmhurst to heirloom tomatoes in Brooklyn. Here are my ten favorite meat-free bites of 2012.

• Achari Bhindi at Benares
• Muk at Dok Suni
• Tomatoes, Melon, and Squash at Bellwether
• Lontong Sayur at Upi Jaya
• Charred Market Beans at L'Artusi
• Heirloom Tomato Salad at Carlton Park
• Bombas de Queso de Cabra at Euzkadi
• Tomato and Egg Bruschetta at Terroir
• Yum Kai Dao at Zabb Elee
• Ortalana at Max SoHa

About the author: Howard Walfish is a Virginia native who has been living in New York since 2003. He is, in fact, a vegetarian, and is the co-founder of Eat to Blog and the creator of BrooklynVegetarian.