Ezogelin (Red Lentils with Bulgur) Soup

Ezogelin Soup - Red Lentil Soup with Bulgur

Ezogelin Soup

Red lentils uncooked

When cooking red lentils, first they turn yellow but keep their shape

As you continue to cook, lentils will start softening

After fully cooked and mixed with a mixer, lentils will look smooth

Ingredients:

• 2 cups red lentils
• 6+1 cups chicken broth or water
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 small onion (about ½ cup) chopped
• 3 cloves garlic mashed
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Crushed red chili to taste (or paprika)
• ¼ cup fine (Number 1) bulgur (cracked wheat)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash and drain lentils. In a large pot combine 6 cups of broth or water and lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer until lentils are cooked, about 15-20 minutes. They will first turn yellow but will look intact, then as they cook they will start dissolving into a mash. Remove pot from heat, set aside. Using a hand held blender, mix the lentil soup about 1 minute until it looks smooth. 

In a skillet, sauté onions in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and tomato sauce, red pepper and cumin, stir. Slowly add remaining 1 cup of broth or water as you continue to stir. Add this mixture to the lentil soup in the pot.  In a fine strainer wash bulgur and add to the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place over medium heat. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low, let it simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

You may need to add more water to achieve desired consistency. 

Often I save some of this soup in smaller containers in the freezer. On a cold day it comes in handy as a starter or even as a main dish.  

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Celery Roots Braised in Olive Oil

Celery Roots Braised in Olive Oil

Ingredients:

• 2 celery roots
• 1 medium onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 can organic garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup boiling water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Peeling of the celery roots  is the most challenging part of this recipe. First cut of the top side where the green stalks come out. Discard leaves, but not the stalks. Cut the stalks about 1 inch long  pieces. This will give you a flat, stable surface to work with. Peel off the outer layer with knobby parts. Once it is completely peeled, wash celery roots & stalks well and drain. Cut each root in quarters, then, cut each peace in 1/4 inch thick slices, set aside.

In a pot sauté onions in olive oil for 3 minutes.  Add celery, tomato paste and boiling water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, stir, cover pot and let it simmer until celery is tender. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
 

This is normally served at room temperature like most olive oil based vegetable dishes in Turkish cuisine, however,  it can be serve hot as well.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Holiday Quinoa Salad

Holiday Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Salad with Red & Green Peppers

Ingredients:

• ·         1 cup organic quinoa
• ·         ½ cup olive oil
• ·         1 medium onion
• ·         1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• ·         1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• ·         ¼ cup water
• ·         ½ cup canned organic garbanzo beans, drained.
• ·         Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook quinoa based on directions on the box. Set aside.

Thinly slice onions. In a skillet roast onions until they are caramelized. Add chopped red and green peppers.  Stir them on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add water, cover the skillet and let it simmer until peppers are tender.

In a bowl combine all ingredients. Adding salt and pepper to taste. Transfer into a serving dish.

You can also serve this hot as a pilaf accompanying a main dish.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Black Bean Salad

Black Bean Salad

 I have to admit that there's nothing Turkish about this recipe. Practically no one has heard of black beans, cilantro or quinoa in Turkey. Until 10 years ago avocado and using corn in salads were unheard of. But, here I go. In fact, when we first came to the U.S., I bought a bunch of cilantro, mistaking it for the Italian (flat leaf) parsley. I could not stand the aroma of it at first. Living in California, starting with chips & salsa, I eventually not only got used to the taste of cilantro, I now look for it in certain salads and dishes. In this recipe, however, if you don't like cilantro, you can substitute parsley. 

When Cathy, Dianne and I had one of our potluck lunches, Dianne had prepared Black Bean Salad for us. I had brought fish and quinoa pilaf, Cathy brought dessert. We decided to add a couple of spoonfuls of quinoa to the bean salad, it was delicious. So I added it to the recipe as an optional ingredient. Hope you like it. 

Black Bean Salad

Black Bean Salad with Quinoa

 

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, rinsed, and drained (or 1 1/2 cup of cooked black beans)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (or fresh corn, boiled, drained, cooled)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 pickled or fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 fresh medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
• 2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice(about 1/3 lemon, or 1 lime)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons of cooked quinoa (optional)

Directions

If you are going to use quinoa, cook according to the instructions on the box. Set aside, let it cool. Rinse and drain the beans and corn. In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, onions, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, quinoa (optional), cilantro (or parsley), basil, lemon (or lime) juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients with a spoon. Add avocados last to avoid mashing them.  Chill in the refrigerator for at leaset 1/2 hour before serving.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Roasted Eggplant Salad

 

 When people see me buying eggplants at the supermarket, sometimes they ask "how do you cook them?, do you steam or stir fry?". Most Southern Californians' eggplant encounters are limited to Eggplant Parmesan and a few Chinese stir fry dishes with eggplant. Turks claim, however, that there are 41 different eggplant dishes in Turkish cuisine. I'm not sure if this is true, but I can think of at least a dozen great eggplant based dishes. I will start with one of my favorites, the roasted eggplant salad. I love the smokey taste of all vegetables roasted on barbecue. This recipe does not call for garlic, however, if you are a garlic lover, I suppose there's no harm in adding a couple of cloves of garlic to it. Enjoy!

 
Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• 1 medium size red onion
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Wash and poke eggplants with a skewer on both sides a few times. This is to make sure it cooks well inside when you roast them. Place the eggplants on barbecue on medium heat. Roast them on all sides until the eggplant feels soft when you touch with a fork. Skin will look mostly brown, charred at places. Remove from heat, place them in a container, let them cool. Peel the skin put the eggplants in a container, pour half of the lemon juice over the eggplants to avoid darkening of color. 

Cut the onion in quarters lengthwise. Cut the pieces into thin slices. Cut tomatoes in half.
Drain eggplants. Cut eggplants into byte size pieces. Place them in container. Add onions, remaining lemon juice salt and olive oil. Gently stir with a spoon. Place in a serving dish. Garnish with tomato halves and basil or mint leaves.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Lemon Frozen Yogurt

Lemon Frozen Yogurt

Lemon Frozen Yogurt

My family had a vacation home in Kusadasi, a coastal town on the Aegean. We used to spend our care-free summers there growing up. I have many fond memories of spending endless hours at the beach with friends, playing cards on our neighbor's front porch during the hot, lazy hours of the afternoon and in most evenings taking the horse buggy to the open-air movie theater with the gang, buying salted sunflower seeds (not popcorn), watching mostly Turkish movies. My dear friend Nakiye who was born in the US, recently moved to Turkey was not yet as callous to the sob stories of these movies as the rest of us, so while our tears seldom and quietly went down our cheeks, she would be sobbing her heart out while mumbling to herself "these Turkish movies... these silly Turkish movies..." Back then, Kusadasi was a small charming fishing village, but since it is the nearest port to the famous ancient city of Ephesus, foreign and domestic tourists alike started to swarm the place. It is still a quiet town October through April, but in the summer its population grows almost 10 fold from 60K to over half a million.

The town faces west, thus the sun sets into the sea. One of the most beautiful, romantic sunsets you've ever seen in your life. Kusadasi is hot and dry during July and August. During the heat of the day, if you were to visit our neighbor, long time family friend and Nakiye's mother Turkan teyze, you can count on her refreshing Lemon Frozen Yogurt on any given day.

Lemon zest makes this frozent yogurt very refreshing and light. It is very easy to make. You can either use regular yogurt or non-fat yogurt. It is excellent as fruit yogurt as it is as frozen yogurt. You can also serve it with mellon balls.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 lemons (zest of one, juice of 2 lemons)
• 3 cups of yogurt

Directions:
Scrub lemons with warm water, dry. Using a fine grater remove the peel of one lemon, set aside the zest to use. Squeeze the juice of two lemons. Place yogurt, sugar, lemon juice and zest of one lemon in a large bowl. With a mixer, blend all ingredients until smooth. Put the mixture in a freezer safe container. It will freeze overnight.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Seabass Stew

Seabass Stew

If you look up “Blue Cruise”, also known as Blue Voyage, you’ll discover the beauty of the Turkey’s southwestern coast and the magical excursions along this coast. These voyages take place on the old sponge divers’ wooden sailing boats, called gulets. Usually there’s the captain, a cook and one other crew member on these boats that accommodate about 12 passengers. You get together with very close friends or family members and arrange a cruise. First time you go on a blue voyage you are amazed every day and you keep telling yourself “this is life, why complicate it”. After the first time, you are hooked, looking forward to the next opportunity to do it all over again. One of the favorite foods on the menu without a doubt is fish stew. I watched our master cook Cemil Dayi (uncle Cemil) to write down the recipe, only to find out there was nothing to it, that simple! 

It is a very simple but delicious dish. Pretty much you start with fresh fish and add a bunch of fresh ingredients to it, let them simmer for a while on low heat and you have a very tasty fish stew. So good that you’ll dip your last bit of bread into its sauce until the pot is wiped clean. 

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of seabass about ¼ lb each
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 2 red bell peppers
• 4 sweet chili peppers
• 4 medium size tomatoes
• 1 lemon
• 4-5 dry bay leaves (optional)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot put olive oil. Peel and slice the onions and place them in the pot. Put pieces of fish over the onions. Peel and cut garlic cloves in half, add to the pot. Core and slice all peppers lengthwise. Slice tomatoes and lemons (do not peel). Place peppers, tomatoes over the fish. Add lemon slices on top. Add bay leaves (optional). Add salt and pepper to taste, cover with a lid. Place over medium heat. After it starts to boil, reduce heat to minimum. Let it simmer, about 1 hour. 

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Green Beans Braised in Olive Oil

Green Beans Braised in Olive Oil

There are several kinds of green beans in Turkey. Some are broad, some not. Fresh form of black eye beans called “borulce” are sold as Chinese String Beans in the US . In Turkey all of the green beans are cooked the same way. Typically, they are served at room temperature as side dishes.  In the Aegean region of Turkey, however, sometimes they are served hot with yogurt on the side. I like them both ways.

Green Beans

Chinese String Beans (Borulce)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb green beans
• 1 large tomato
• 1 large onion chopped
• 4 table spoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup hot water
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the ends of the beans, wash and drain.

Peel and grate the tomato. If you don’t want to peel, you can chop it in blender. Do not liquify.

Place olive oil and onions in a heavy sauce pan. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add beans, tomato, water, sugar and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until beans are tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Transfer into a serving dish. 

Afiyet olsun! Bon Appetit!

Potato Rollups

Potato Rollups

This is one of my "California meets Turkey" recipes. Boiled, mashed potatoes are used as filling for many Turkish savory pastries along with cheese and olive based fillings. I wanted to serve bite size appetizers with potato filling. Cream cheese and turkey rollups that are common on party platters in California came to my mind. I combined the tortilla rollup idea with the flavor of  Turkish potato salad (see recipe in my blog) and came up with this appetizer that I believe you'll like. You can serve these as party appetizers or with afternoon tea. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, boiled, mashed 
• 3 large tortillas
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• ½ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
• ½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili pepper (optional)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Boil potatoes, peel them and mash them with a fork. Put tortillas aside. Mix chopped green ingredients in a large bowl. Save aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture to be used as garnish. Add potatoes, olive oil, peppers and salt into the large bowl. Mix them with a fork. Place a tortilla on a flat surface. Spread 1/3 of the potato mixture evenly on the tortilla. Starting at the bottom, roll it into a cylinder. Cut the edges. Cut the roll into ¼ inch slices. Place the slices on a serving dish on their flat sides. Repeat for the other 2 tortillas. Sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Zucchini & Peppers Braised in Olive Oil

Zucchini & Peppers Braised in Olive Oil

My friend Ugur is a master magician when it comes to cooking and presenting food. Her family roots come from the Agean Islands, thus she cooks many delicious olive oil based vegetable dishes even uncommon among the Turks. I used to cook zucchini in a similar way (olive oil, herbs, etc.), however, it never tasted this good. I think what made the difference is the pine nuts she adds after it is cooked, and the colorful (red, yellow and green) peppers that visually enhances the dish as well as the taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb zucchini
•  6 peppers (red, yellow, green mixed)
•  2 medium onions, cut in half and sliced
• 5-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
• salt to taste

Directions:

• Peel and cut zucchini into slices 1/4 inch thick
• Wash, core the peppers removing the seeds. Cut into slices ¼ inch thick
• In a heavy saucepan put oil and onions. Sauté onions for 2-3 minutes.
• Add peppers, zucchini, water, salt and sugar. When it starts to boil, lower the heat. Simmer over low heat for about 25-30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
• Remove from the heat. Transfer into a serving dish. Sprinkle pine nuts, dill and mint over it. Serve at room temperature.

Afitey Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Potato Salad

Potato Salad

This is a very healthy version of potato salad. It is mayonnaise-free! 

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium size potatoes
• 1 medium red onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili pepper
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Boil potatoes until tender but not mushy. Peel and cut in half, then slice each half into ¼ inch thick slices, set aside. Cut onions in half and thinly slice them. In a large bowl place all of the ingredients except the potatoes. Mix them with a fork. Add potatoes to the bowl, gently mix them with a spoon. Transfer into a serving dish.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Gypsy Salad

Gypsy Salad (Cingen Pilavi)

Although the original name, Cingen Pilavi means Gypsy Pilav when translated word by word, this is a salad. It is only known in a small region in Western Turkey. It is a very simple recipe that mainly consists of tomatoes and peppers with olive oil dressing. The key ingredient here is a kind of curd called “cokelek”. It is a byproduct of the process used in making butter. It is sort of like cottage cheese, except it is very dry and flaky. This salad is part of a typical Turkish breakfast in the summer, but, commonly served with lunch as well. For the lunch version dry onions are added to the recipe. I cannot find this special curd in California, so I substitute feta cheese. You can also substitute cottage cheese. But if you do that, I suggest that you put it in a strainer first, letting the juices drain before adding to the salad. 

Ingredients:

• 2 large tomatoes diced
• 2 sweet green peppers, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil 
• 1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced (optional)
• ½ cup curd (cokelek) or feta cheese, crumbled
  
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano (optional)
• 3-4 black or green olives for decoration
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Mix tomatoes, peppers and onions(optional) in a bowl. Transfer to a serving plate. Add crumbled feta cheese to the top. Sprinkle dry oregano(optional). Garnish with olives.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Green Lentil Salad

This is a recipe from my sister Nuvit's friend Ahu who lives in Istanbul.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry green lentils
• ½ cup rice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 3 roasted red peppers chopped
• ¼ cup dill pickles, finely chopped
• 2-3 green onions finely chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup fresh dills finely chopped
• 4-5 green or black olives (optional as garnish)
• 1 small cucumber peeled, cut into slices or lengthwise (optional as garnish)

Directions:

Place lentils in 3 cups of boiling water. Let it simmer over low heat until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain lentils in a strainer. Place rice in 2 cups of boiling water. Let it simmer over low heat until rice is cooked, about 15 minutes. Drain rice in a strainer. Place olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chopped onions, saute onions until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Place all ingredients except chopped fresh dills, olives(optional) and cucumbers(optional) in a large bowl, mix with a spoon. Transfer on to a serving dish. Sprinkle fresh dill over the salad. You can garnish with olives and cucumbers or other vegetables.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

White Roughy in Tomato-Olive Oil Sauce

White Roughy in Tomato-Olive Oil Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces of white roughy, approximately 4 oz each.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed (optional)
• 2-3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 3 table spoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut tomatoes in half, place in blender, coarsely chop them. Place oil, crushed garlic (optional) and chopped tomatoes in a large pan. Cook over medium to low heat until tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes. Place fish in the pan. Cook each side about 5 minutes.

Afiyet Olsun !Bon Appetit!

Cabbage Salad

Cabbage Salad

I had this salad at my friend Vega's house first. Her husband Haluk is the king of salads. I came home and tried to remember what was in it. Of course I ended up adding a few new ingredients (almonds and walnuts) and leaving out a few. When he sent me the recipe, it was too late to go back to the original.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups white cabbage chopped
• ½ cup green apples finely chopped
• ½ cup carrots finely grated (optional)
• ½ cup jicama diced (optional)
• 2 green onions finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced, toasted almonds
• 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon currants or raisins

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let is stand in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before serving. This allows all the flavors to mix. It will stay in the refrigerator for a couple of days. 

Picture below features Chinese cabbage instead of regular one. I've added 1/2 cup chopped red cabbage to give it some color.

Optional Red Cabbage adds color

 Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Kofte - Turkish Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, cut into 4 pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• ½ cup parsley
• 1 cup bread crumbs (whole grain bread works best, but store bought ready crumbs OK too)
• 2 heaping teaspoon cumin
• 1 table spoon tomato paste
• red chili pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Directions:

Place egg, oil, crushed garlic and cut onions in a blender. Blend until onions are chopped but not liquefied. Add washed parsley leaves to the blender, blend until parsley is chopped, but not liquefied. Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Add the mixture in the blender to it. Add bread crumbs, black pepper, red pepper(optional), salt and cumin to the bowl. Knead all ingredients for a few minutes until it is well mixed. Shape the mixture into flat paddies. Cook them on the barbecue. If in a hurry, you can cook them in a non-stick pan. Grilled koftes taste better of course.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Bulgur Pilaf (Cracked Wheat) :

Bulgur pilaf with sautéd mushrooms

Bulgur pilaf with peas

Bulgur Pilaf

Traditionally bulgur(cracked wheat) is commonly used in Turkey. However, it is considered as the "poor man's pilaf" since wheat is a lot cheaper than white rice. Though there are several dishes including soups and yes, even desserts that use wheat, the most common dish is the bulgur pilaf. It is a plain, yet very nutritious dish. You can spice it up by adding vegetables, nuts, cooked chicken or meat to it. Here's the basic recipe. Let me know if you come up with a different version and how it turns out.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 table spoon olive oil
• ½ cup bell peppers chopped (optional)
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped into small pieces or chopped in blender
• 2 cups of no.3 bulgur (cracked wheat)
  
• 4 cups chicken broth (if not, plain water is OK)
• 1 table spoon tomato paste
• 8 oz (1/2 bag) frozen green peas
• salt to taste

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan, sauté onions in olive oil. Add chopped bell peppers (optional) and sauté for a few more minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, let it cook for a few minutes. Add tomato paste and chicken broth (or water) to the pot, bring to a boil. Add bulgur, peas, salt and pepper. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low, let it simmer until the water is absorbed and the bulgur is cooked, about 20 minutes.

Variations:
You can add pine nuts, slivered almonds, or other nuts  if you like.
You can also add other cooked vegetables like mushrooms, lentils, garbanzo beans, etc. to spice it up.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appétit!