Collard Green Soup with Corn and Beans

Collard Greens Soup with Corn and Beans

My friend Nur is is a master chef in the kitchen. She is from the Black Sea region of Turkey. I have tasted many great dishes for the first time at her house. This morning we got together at another friend's house and she taught us how to cook a few of her Black Sea specialties. Here's the first one: Collared greens soup with corn and beans. It was easy to make. Though it is a vegan soup, it tasted like it was cooked with some kind of broth. It is a hearty, very nutritious and a very tasty soup. Hope you enjoy it too.

  

Ingredients:

• 3 table spoons olive oil
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 1 small potato
• 4 cups collard greens (about 1 ½ bunch)
• 1 cup corn
• 6+ cups boiling water (or broth)
• 1 small can white beans
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash collard greens. Cut leaves lengthwise in the middle. Do not remove the stems.Then cut the leaves and stems in ½ in thick slices. Set aside in a large bowl. If you are using frozen corn, rinse and drain and add to the greens in the bowl. Peel the potato. Cut it into small cubes.

Place oil in a pot. Add onion and sauté them for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add potatoes, continue sautéing while stirring gently for another 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, mix it in with a spoon. Add collard greens and corn to the pot. Mix all vegetables with a spoon. Add boiling water, salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and let it simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add more boiling water if necessary. Add the beans to the soup, let it simmer over medium low heat until collard greens are tender, about another 20 minutes. Remove from heat, serve hot.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Sauté onions in oil

Collard greens and corn

Rinse and drain white beans

Add tomato paste to onions and potatos

Add greens and corn to the pot

Add water and simmer

Add beans and simmer

Simmer...

Collard Greens Soup cooked

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Rice-Meatball Soup Seasoned with Lemon

Rice-Meatball Soup Seasoned with Lemon - Terbiyeli Ekşili Köfte

Ingredients:

• 3 table spoons all purpose flour
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small-medium onion, grated (about 1/2 cup)
• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup rice
• 5 cups boiling water
• Salt & Pepper to taste

For Seasoning:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 egg yolk

For garnish:

• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• A few sprigs of parsley

Directions:

Put the flour on a tray, spread it evenly forming a thin layer of flour on the tray, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, grated onions, chopped parsley, rice, salt & pepper. Knead well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Chilling the mixture will make it easier to shape the meatballs. You can skip this step if you are in a hurry.

Take a small piece of the mixture, roll it between your palms, forming a ball about ½ inch in diameter. These meatballs with be considerably smaller than those in "spaghetti & meatballs". Place rice-meatballs on the floured tray. Repeat this until all of the mixture is formed into rice-meatballs. Gently move the tray horizontally in a circular motion. This will make the balls roll in the tray, covering them with flour without having to roll each ball in flour.

In a large pot boil 5 cups of water. Add all the rice-meatballs into the pot. Gently stir with a spoon. When it starts to boil, lower the heat to slow, cover the pot and let it simmer until the meatballs are tender and the rice in them are cooked, about 45 minutes. It will be a thick soup, however, if it looks too thick, you may need to add more boiling water to obtain desired consistency. Remove from the heat, set aside.

In a small bowl, mix egg yolk and lemon juice with a whisk. Take two spoons full of the liquid part of the soup, slowly add to the egg yolk-lemon juice mixture as you continue to whisk. Then, add this mixture to the pot, as you continue to stir the soup.

In a pan, melt butter over medium heat, add the paprika stirringly. When it starts to foam, set aside.

Pour soup into bowls; drizzle paprika butter on top with a spoon. Add a sprig of parsley to garnish.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Rice-Meatball Ingredients in a bow

Flour spread over a tray

Rice-Meatballs placed on floured tray

Rice-Meatballs rolled in flour

Rice-Meatballs placed in boiling water

Rice-Meatballs simmering in the pot

Paprika butter

Rice-Meatball Soup Seasoned with Lemon

Creamy Vegetable Soup - Kremalı Sebze Çorbası

Creamy Vegetable Soup - Kremalı Sebze  Çorbası

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks of leeks, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 bunch Swiss Chards, chopped
• 1 medium to large potato, peeled and cut to pieces
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups water or chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

• 2 table spoons butter
• 1 table spoon all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
• Salt to taste

Wash, coarsely chop all vegetables. Combine water (or chicken stock) and vegetables in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, let it simmer over medium heat until all vegetables are cooked. Using a hand blender, puree vegetables in the pot until the mixture is smooth. Add salt to taste. Set aside. (If you don't have a hand blender, you can also use a regular blender to puree the vegetables. You may need to do it in 2 batches, but it works just fine).


For the creamy sauce, melt butter (or oil) in large pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly over medium heat about 4-5 minutes. Slowly add the milk and cream (optional) and salt to taste. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Slowly add the vegetable puree to the pot, stirring constantly to avoid lumping. If the soup is too thick, add more water (or chicken stock) to it. Bring it to a boil over medium to slow heat . Add pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Creamy Vegetable Soup - Kremalı Sebze  Çorbası

Mom's Chicken Soup - Tavuklu Şehriye Çorbası

Chicken Soup - Tavuklu Şehriye Çorbası

Oh, the comfort of mom's chicken soup on a cold day! Whether it is a cold day, or you  have a cold, or even when you just don't feel good, I believe chicken soup has a way of soothing your senses...

This version made with orzo, a form of pasta shaped like a large grain of rice. Kids of all ages love it. Try it!

Ingredients:

• 1 small chicken, boiled
• 4 cups chicken broth (home made by boiling the chicken)
• 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
• 1 heaping teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 cup orzo (rice shaped pasta)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tea spoon butter (optional)
• A few wedges of lemon (optional)

Directions:
In a large pot, boil chicken with plenty of water and a dash of salt. I use smallest organic chicken I can find. Smaller the chicken, more tenter the meat. After it starts to boil, foam will form on top of the broth. Remove the foam, discard it. Boil the chicken until it is fully cooked and the meat comes out easily when you insert a fork into it. Remove the chicken and set it aside to cool.

Using a strainer, take 4 cups of the boiling chicken broth and put it in a pot. Add tomatoes, orzo, butter(optional) and salt and peper to the boiling broth. Cook over low to medium heat until orzo is tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Remove skin and bones from the chicken. Take desired amount of meat. Cut it into small pieces and add the chicken to the soup. Gently mix with a spoon. Some like it with a touch of lemon juice, so, serve hot with a wedge of lemon (optional) on the side.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit 

Orzo- rice shaped pasta

Chopped tomatoes and tomato paste

Chicken soup cooking

Boiled chicken cut into small pieces

Chicken added to the soup

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

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!