Gluten-free recipes

Potato, red onion, pepper and olive bake with cumin and chili flakes

By Ozlem Warren on October 27, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Gluten-free recipes, Vegetables Cooked in Olive Oil 15

Baked potatoes, peppers, red onion and olives with cumin and red pepper flakes

Merhaba to you all; this week, I would like to share this favorite easy, delicious all in one vegetarian course – Spiced potatoes, onions, pepper and olives baked in olive oil. Touch of warm, pungent cumin and spicy Turkish red pepper flakes add a lot of flavor to the vegetables here, especially to the humble potato, transforming their taste to a new level. The sweetness of peppers and red onions also give a lovely contrast to juicy, salty olives and complement one another really well. As always, it is all about using a few good, seasonal ingredients and you have a delicious, wholesome dish in hand in less than 1 hour.

Combine the spices and the seasoning with the vegetables and olives, giving them a good mix, before baking

You can serve this comforting, gluten-free course as a side to grills or as part of a mezze spread. It can be also be a delicious, light main course on its own with the Cacik dip of cucumber, yoghurt with dried mint and some crusty bread aside. You can also bake this dish ahead of time and give it a gentle reheat in the oven just before serving. Try to get good quality olives; Turkish, Italian, Spanish or Greek Kalamata olives all work well and really make a difference.

Turkish cuisine is healthy, delicious and packed full of easy, wholesome vegetarian options like this recipe. I am passionate about my homeland’s scrumptious Turkish cuisine; over 90 authentic Turkish recipes are included at my Gourmand award winner cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies are available at this link and delivered worldwide.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 1 reviews

Potato, red onion, pepper and olive bake with cumin and chili flakes

Hope you enjoy this delicious all in one vegetarian course - Spiced potatoes, onions, pepper and olives baked in olive oil. Touch of warm, pungent cumin and spicy red pepper flakes add a lot of flavor to the vegetables here, especially to the humble potato, transforming their taste to a new level. You can serve this lovely, gluten-free course as a side to grills or as part of a mezze spread.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetables baked in olive oil with spices

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1kg / 2.2 lb. medium potatoes, quartered
2 medium red onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 red bell pepper (or pointy pepper), deseeded, quartered and thinly sliced
12- 14 good quality black olives, pitted and halved
15 ml/ 3 tsp. ground cumin
10 ml / 2 tsp. Turkish red pepper flakes or chili flakes (you can use more for a spicier taste)
30 ml / 2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F
Put the quartered potatoes in a large enough pan with plenty of cold water.
Parboil or partially cook the potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a pan and stir in the sliced red onions and peppers. Sautee for 5 minutes, until they start to soften up, turn the heat off.
Grease the baking tray with a good drizzle (about 2 tbsp.) of olive oil. Combine the parboiled potatoes, sautéed red onions, peppers and the pitted black olives in the tray. Include any remaining olive oil in the pan of the sautéed red onions and peppers to the baking tray.
Stir in the ground cumin and red pepper flakes over the vegetables. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
Using your hands, combine the spices and the seasoning with the vegetables and olives, giving them a good mix.
Bake for 35 minutes at 200 C/ 400 F and serve hot.

Halloumi Salad with peppers and tomatoes – Hellim Peynirli Salata

By Ozlem Warren on September 8, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Gluten-free recipes, Salads 13

Halloumi Cheese Salad with rocket, peppers, spring onions, tomatoes; a delicious treat.

I love the distinctive taste of the halloumi cheese or hellim peyniri as we call in Turkish, it is such a treat. Originated in Cyprus, halloumi is a semi hard cheese, made from the mixture of goat and sheep’s and sometimes cow milk. As it has a high melting point, it is wonderful when grilled or lightly sautéed; a real treat we enjoyed while we were at the Aegean coast of Turkey.

Halloumi is a popular cheese also in the Middle East, as well as in Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. It is also good to see its increasing popularity in the UK and the US.

I like serving grilled or cooked halloumi with a plain, crunchy salad; it makes an easy, delicious starter or accompanies main courses well. Halloumi cheese has a distinctive, quite salty and rich taste and pairs well with sweet bell peppers, spring (green) onions and juicy tomatoes. Rocket, watercress, spinach all work well in this salad. A simple dressing of zesty lemon juice, oregano and olive oil is all you need as a dressing. You may also wish to sprinkle some red pepper flakes, Turkish pul biber over, if you fancy a spicy kick. Then close your eyes and imagine yourself at the Aegean or Mediterranean; it does the trick for me and tickles our taste buds every time.

Cook the halloumi 1 -2 minutes each side until nicely browned; serve immediately over the salad.

Tip: The trick with the halloumi cheese is that you need to serve it as soon as it is grilled or cooked; while the cheese is warm and crispy outside and soft and juicy inside. If you wait longer, it will start to get harder and you will start to lose the texture and flavors. Therefore, make sure to get your salad ready first before cooking the halloumi cheese and serve straight.

Gumusluk, over looking Tavsan Adasi, Bodrum – Turkey

I hope you enjoy this easy (and gluten-free) grilled halloumi salad, packed with flavor. And I hope it helps hanging on to that summer feeling, that sunny outlook, no matter the weather.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 1 reviews

Halloumi Salad with peppers and tomatoes – Hellim Peynirli Salata

I hope you enjoy this easy, delicious and gluten - free salad with cooked Halloumi Cheese. Halloumi cheese is packed with flavor and as it has a high melting point, it is wonderful when grilled or lightly sauteed. Enjoy it over this simple salad with juicy tomatoes and sweet peppers. The salad makes a great appetizer or accompanies main courses well.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Healthy and easy Mediterranean Salads with Halloumi Cheese

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 2

Ingredients

110 gr/ 4 oz. halloumi cheese, drained and pat dried with paper towel
110 gr/ 4 oz. rocket, watercress or spinach leaves
½ red bell (or pointy) pepper, ½ yellow or green bell pepper, deseeded, quartered and thinly sliced
2 spring (green) onions, trimmed, washed and finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
15 ml/ 1 tbsp. olive oil (to cook the halloumi cheese)
For dressing:
30ml/ 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (you can use a little less if you prefer)
Juice of ½ lemon
10 ml/ 2 tsp. dried oregano
5 ml / 1 tsp. Turkish red pepper flakes, pul biber or chili flakes (optional)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Crusty bread to serve

Instructions

Place the rocket, spinach leaves or watercress (or a combination) in a large bowl.
Mix in the sliced peppers, chopped spring (green) onions and tomatoes, combine well.
Add the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Toss well to combine everything thoroughly. Set aside until the halloumi is ready.
Drain the juices of the halloumi cheese and pat dry gently with a paper towel. Cut the cheese into 6-8 small chunky slices.
Pour in 1 tbsp. olive oil in a heavy pan over high heat.
Once the pan is hot, add the halloumi slices and cook 1 -2 minutes each side until nicely browned.
Place the cooked halloumi over the salad and sprinkle with red pepper flakes or chili flakes if you like.
Serve immediately with crusty bread.

Notes

The trick with the halloumi cheese is that you need to serve it as soon as it is grilled or cooked; while the cheese is warm and crispy outside and soft and juicy inside. If you wait longer, it will start to get harder and you will start to lose the texture and flavors. Therefore, make sure to get your salad ready first before cooking the halloumi cheese and serve straight.

Baked Turkish mini meatballs, koftes in pepper and tomato sauce

By Ozlem Warren on August 7, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Casseroles and Stews, Gluten-free recipes, Roasts and Kebaps 27

We Turks love our koftes, Turkish homemade meatballs. A childhood favorite, they get ready in almost no time and the delicious aroma greets you as soon as you are in the kitchen.

Mini Turkish meatballs, koftes; a delicious appetizer or a main course with rice aside.

I recently made these baked mini koftes, meatballs for a friend, who follows a gluten free diet. They were delicious and moist in pepper and tomato sauce, also healthy, as being baked. You can serve them as a mezze, starter or bigger portions can make a lovely main course over some rice, pasta and steamed vegetables aside. Cacik dip of cucumber and yoghurt would complement these mini koftes very well too.

We recently had these lovely mini meatballs over pasta. As a variation, I combined 150gr spinach leaves to the tomato and pepper sauce at the last 3 minutes of cooking the sauce. We served the finished Baked meatballs with vegetables over pasta, it was delicious.

This lovely meatballs in peppery sauce recipe and many others are included at my Turkish cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland, Signed hardback copies at this link, delivered worldwide.

If you live in the USA , Mexico and Canada, you can order a hardback copy with lower shipping rates here.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 3 reviews

Baked Turkish mini meatballs, koftes in pepper and tomato sauce

These delicious Turkish mini meatballs, koftes are a real crowd pleaser. The pepper and tomato sauce make them moister; they are also gluten-free and healthy, as they are baked.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Appetizers, Mezzes

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 6

Ingredients

225gr/ 8oz ground beef
225gr/8oz ground lamb
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
400 gr/14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
30 ml/ 2 tbsp. olive oil
8 fl oz./1 cup water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Small bowl of water with a drizzle of olive oil aside to shape the koftes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F
In a large bowl, combine the grated onions, eggs and parsley and knead well. That will help soften the onions and blend the ingredients homogeneously.
Stir in the ground meat, season with salt (about 1 – 2 tsp.) and ground black pepper to your taste. Knead for a good 3-5 minutes with your hands, until the mixture becomes elastic and mixed well.
Cover this ground meat mixture with a cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a heavy pan and stir in the garlic and bell peppers. Sauté for 5 minutes, while stirring often.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and 8 fl oz./ 1 cup of water. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir, cover and simmer on medium to low heat for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off.
Take out the ground meat mixture from the fridge to shape meatballs. Have a small bowl of water with a drizzle of olive oil near you.
Wet your hands and take a small walnut size of the meat mixture and roll into a ball. Place the meatballs in a baking tray ready cook side by side and continue until all the meat mixture is shaped into mini koftes, meatballs.
Bake the mini koftes in the pre heated oven (180 C / 350 F) for 25 minutes, they will start to get a nice golden brown coating.
Transfer the baked mini koftes in a large baking dish and pour in the pepper and tomato sauce around them, giving a gentle mix.
Bake the mini koftes in tomato and pepper sauce for a further 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken, the flavors blend in and meatballs will have a wonderful coating.
Serve hot with plain rice and Cacik dip of cucumber, yoghurt and mint if you like.