Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:

• 6 cups baby kale
• 1 medium green apple, sliced
• 1 medium orange, peeled
• 1 small avocado, diced
• 2  Tbsp hemp seeds (optional)
• 2-3 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1/2 cup oranges
• 1/2 small sweet onion, thinly sliced (optional)
• black pepper to taste

Dressing:

• 2 1/2 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
• 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon avocado or grape seed oil
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses

Directions:
For dressing, mix together all ingredients with a whisk or by shaking in a bottle. Taste and make adjustments to your taste. I usually at least quadruple the recipe and save the left over dressing in the fridge for future use with other salads. Set aside the dressing.

Wash and drain kale. Remove any stems that are sticking out. 

Cut apple into slices and then cut each slice across in thin triangles.

Peel oranges with a knife, exposing the juicy orange part. Cut oranges in half lengthwise. Place on the flat side. Cut each half again lengthwise, then slice across.

Combine kale, apples and oranges in a large bowl. Add thinly sliced onions (optional). Add enough dressing to cover the leaves. Toss well to make sure the dressing is evenly distributed. Add hemp (optional) and pumpkin seeds, avocados and gently toss again. Transfer to a serving dish, serve chilled.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Baby kale

Baby kale stems removed

Kale Salad ingredients

Kale Salad ready for tossing

Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

Savory Dill and Cheese Pastry

Savory Dill and Cheese pastry

Savory treats are my favorites for tea time. My friend Nur served these to us with coffee and they were an istant hit with everyone. They are very easy to make and freeze very well. If you freeze, when ready to serve, take them out of the freezer, put them in a preheated oven for 5 minutes. They will taste like they just came fresh out of the oven. You can use olive oil, as well as any other healthy oil like walnut or avocado oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yogurt
• ½ cup oil
• 2 eggs (one yolk separated for glazing)
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Black caraway seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Separate one egg yolk, save it for glazing the top of the pastry later. In a large bowl, mix yogurt, oil, and eggs with a whisk. Add crumbled feta cheese and dill, mix with a spoon. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well with a spoon. Cover the dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Grease a cookie sheet. Take a walnut size piece of the dough, roll it between your palms into a ball and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. Dough will yield about 40 pieces. Add a table spoon of water into the egg yolk, mix well. Brush the egg yolk over the pastry balls. Sprinkle black caraway seeds over the pastry. Bake in the oven until golden brown (about 30-45 minutes). Serve hot or at room temperature. 

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Yogurt, oil, feta cheese and fresh dill

Dough is ready to go in the refrigerator

Chilled dough

Pasty balls ready for glazing

Pastry balls glazed, ready for baking

Savory dill and cheese pastry fresh out of the oven

Savory dill and cheese pastry

Savory dill and cheese pastry

Baked Spinach Rolls

Baked Spinach Rolls - Ispanaklı Kol Böreği

Borek is  typically a baked or fried pastry with cheese, minced meat or vegetable fillings. It is made with a thin flaky dough known as fillo (phyllo) or, better yet, made with home made dough. Typically one uses olive oil or butter, eggs and milk to enrich the flavor. Borek was a popular dish of Ottoman cuisine. One can see it in all countries that used to be a part of the former Ottoman Empire or the countries who came in contact with the Turkic people.

I wanted to make a vegan version that also tasted good and came up with the following recipe. This one has a spinach, onions and tomatoes filling, however, you can use other fillings. If you decide to use cheese filling make sure to add some chopped fresh herbs like dill or parsley to bring out the flavor.

Ingredients:

• 3 table spoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ cup chopped tomatoes
• 6 cups fresh baby spinach
• 10 sheets of fillo (phyllo) dough
• ¼ cup avocado oil (or grapeseed oil)
• 1 table spoon black caraway seeds for garnish

You will need:

• a 10 inch pie dish
• a 3/8 to 1/3 in thick dowel stick 18 inches or longer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sauté onions in olive oil in a large pan over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and sauté together for another 2-3 minutes. Add spinach and sauté for 1 more minute, set aside.

On a clean flat surface, lay 2 sheets of fillo dough, long side closer to you. Drizzle or brush avocado oil on the top layer of the two fillo sheets. Spread one fifth of the spinach filling over the half of the fillo sheets. Place the dowel close to the edge on the long side of the fillo dough.Starting on the edge with the dowel, gently start to wrap the fillo dough over the dowel. Make it a loosely wrapped roll. If it is tight, it will be hard to do the next step. When the two sheets are rolled around the dowel, gently push the two ends of the roll towards the center, gathering the dough, giving it a wrinkled look.  Holding one end of the dowel stick with one hand, slowly slide the roll into the pie dish. Lay the roll along the outer edge of the dish. 

Repeat this 4 more times, placing rolled in the pie dish spiraling inwards until you use all the fillo dough and the pie dish is full. Brush the rest of the avocado oil on top of the rolls. Sprinkle black caraway seeds on top.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until it is golden brown, about 35-45 minutes. 

Cut into wedges like you would cut a pie. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Fresh Baby Spinach

Sauté Onions in Olive Oil

Onions and tomatoes Sautéed

Vegetables Sautéed

Brush oil on fillo dough

Spread filling over half of the dough

Place dowel stick on the long edge where the filling is.

Start loosley rolling the dough

Dough completely rolled over the dowel

Gather the dough from both ends toward the center

Place rolls into the pie dish in a spiral

Brush remaining oil on the rolls

Sprinkle caraway seeds on top

Baked Spinach Rolls ready to be served

Barley Salad with Pomegranates

Barley Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

I make a quinoa salad similar to this. I was having my friends for lunch and I planned to cook quina pilaf to serve with stew. So, I did not want to have a quinoa salad and decided to use barley instead.  It came out just as delicious. Pomegranate seeds add a fresh sweet taste to this tangy salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pearl barley
• 5 cups boiling water
• ½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, julienne cut
• Zest of one medium orange
• ¾ cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 avocado, diced
• 3 table spoon olive oil (you can also use any good oil like avocado or grape seed oil)
• 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
• 1-2 table spoons lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Soak barley in cold water at least for 2 hours or overnight. It soaks a lot of water, use a large bowl and plenty of water. In a large pot, boil 5 cups of water. Drain barley, add it to the boiling water and let it simmer until it is tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, let it cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix barley with all of the ingredients except pomegranate seeds and avocado. Toss well, then add pomegranate seeds and diced avocado. Gently stir and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint. Serve chilled.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Dry barley

Barley soaked in water

Pomegranate seeds

Orange zest

Coarsely chopped walnuts

Barley Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

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!