Shepherd’s Salad of tomato and cucumbers – Coban Salata

Posted by Ozlem on Oct 13, 2010 in Salads, Uncategorized | 0 comments

An easy and healthy salad that complements main courses, it is also great to have for lunch with some cheese and crusty bread. This salad accompanies the Braised Chicken Rice recipe very well too.

Serves 4

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Half of a large cucumber, about 160 gr/5 ½ oz, cut in quarters and sliced
2-3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
3 spring (green) onions, finely chopped
Handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
30 ml/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onions and the parsley in a bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Afiyet Olsun!

Fasulye Piyazi – Turkish bean salad with vegetables

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 8, 2010 in Salads, Uncategorized | 1 comment

What do you cook when you have limited time? Well, this bean and vegetable salad can be ready in a flash, it is very delicious and healthy. At home, traditionally we serve fasulye piyazi with grilled meatballs, koftes. There are traditional restaurants, lokantas, at home that solely serve Turkish style meatballs, fasulye piyaz and pickled cucumber and peppers. This salad is also a great alternative for lunch, served with some nice crusty bread or in can be a part of a meze spread.

I like to use both black and green olives, the Greek or Spanish olives work well if you can’t find Turkish olives.

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

2×400 gr/2 (14 oz) cans of precooked cannellini beans
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
45-60 ml/3-4 tablespoon olives, halved and stones removed
2 hardboiled eggs, quartered
A handful of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
5 ml/1 teaspoon ground sumac – optional-
1/2 teaspoon paprika flakes – optional -
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the cooked beans in a bowl, after draining its juice and rinsing over warm water. Work salt and sumac into the onion slices with your hands really well. This will soften the onions and make them more palatable. Add the onion, chopped tomatoes, half of the olives, parsley and paprika flakes into the bowl. Wisk together the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and pour over this mixture.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and combine well. Arrange on a serving plate and garnish with the eggs and remaining olives.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until required.

Afiyet Olsun!

Note: If you prefer to use the dried beans, you need to soak them in water overnight. Then drain the beans and put in a pan with plenty of fresh water. Cook about 60 minutes or until tender, adding salt toward the end of cooking time. Drain and set aside in a bowl, to be used in this salad.

Smoked Eggplant Salad with Garlic Yoghurt – Patlicanli Yogurtlama

Posted by Ozlem on Jun 25, 2010 in Salads, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Another refreshing smoked eggplant salad from southern Turkey, Antakya, this time with garlic yoghurt and mint. It goes very well with grilled meats, or just with some nice crusty bread as an appetizer.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes

1 medium eggplant (aubergine)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
About 200 ml/ 7 fl oz/1 cup plain yoghurt
5 ml/ 1 teaspoon dried mint
15 ml/ 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of a quarter of lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 200 C/ 400 F

Cook the eggplants (aubergines) on a barbecue grill or over and open gas flame turning occasionally by the stalks until the outer skin is charred and blistered and the inner flesh soft. (Alternatively they can be baked in a hot oven for about 45 minutes). Peel away the burnt skin and discard the stalks. Put the flesh in a colander to drain away any bitter juices. (You can prepare the eggplants this way a day in advance; squeeze lemon juice over to retain its color and keep in the fridge covered). Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

Combine the yoghurt, flesh of eggplant, garlic, salt, black pepper and the dried mint in a mixing bowl. Transfer the mixture to a serving dish, sprinkle a little more dried mint and drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over.

Afiyet Olsun!

Smoked Eggplant Salad withVegetables and Olive Oil – Patlicanli Eksileme

Posted by Ozlem on Jun 25, 2010 in Salads, Uncategorized | 0 comments

This is a wonderful, refreshing salad from southern Turkey, Antakya, and one of my favorites, featuring Turkey’s beloved eggplant “patlican”. Traditionally, the eggplant here is cooked over an open fire. This dish can be served as part of a “mezze” – appetizer- or can accompany grilled meats.

When I made the pastry with smoked eggplants the other day, I grilled two extra eggplants to make these salads. It is packed with flavor; a very welcome mezze for warm summer days. The dried mint really adds a wonderful flavor to the salads, most refreshing.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes

1 medium eggplant (aubergine)
1 large tomato, peeled and finely chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, finely sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
A handful of fresh flat parsley, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
15 ml / 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
10 ml /2 teaspoon dried mint
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F

Cook the eggplants (aubergines) on a barbecue grill or over and open gas flame turning occasionally by the stalks until the outer skin is charred and blistered and the inner flesh soft. (Alternatively they can be baked in a hot oven for about 45 minutes). Peel away the burnt skin and discard the stalks. Put the flesh in a colander to drain away any bitter juices. (You can prepare the eggplants this way a day in advance; squeeze lemon juice over to retain its color and keep in the fridge covered). Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

Hold the eggplant under cold running water to cool, and then peel the skin, leaving the soft flesh. Slice it roughly into a serving dish and add the tomatoes and bell pepper.

In a separate dish, rub the onion with a good pinch of salt and drain its juice. This softens the onion slightly, making it much more palatable. Add the onion to the salad along with the parsley.

To make the dressing, combine lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, dried mint, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the salad, mix well and serve.

Afiyet Olsun!

Spicy Bulgur Wheat Salad – Kisir

Posted by Ozlem on Apr 8, 2010 in Salads, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Kisir
Spicy Bulgur Wheat Salad

My good friend Kate came over and we made Kisir today; it was lovely to cook with a friend and share the food. Kate is such a foodie and it is amazing to see how the food connects people no matter where we come from, a universal language. We talked about how important it is for us to be able to share and have an access to the recipes from our mothers, grandmothers, and be able to pass on to friends, family and to the next generation. More than being recipes, they really reflect our heritage, culture, traditions and keep the memories alive.

So here comes kisir Kisir is a specialty in the southeast of Turkey, from where the country’s spicier dishes hail. It is offered as a welcome to the guests in the homes of Antakya, where my roots are from, and in Gaziantep. Kisir is generally made with nar eksisi (sour pomegranate syrup) instead of lemon juice – though it is common to use lemon juice for Kisir at northwest Turkey. It can be rolled into balls and served nestling in crunchy lettuce leaves. This dish is perfect for buffets or as part of a barbecue spread. It really is a “bowl of health and goodness” with fresh vegetables, bulgur – packed with fiber and pomegranate sauce full of antioxidants.

This wonderful, refreshing can be prepared a couple of days in advance and can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days. As a matter of fact, it tastes even better a day or two later it’s made! I hope you can get to try the recipe.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 25 minutes

2 cups coarse bulgur wheat
2 cups hot water
2 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon concentrated sour pomegranate sauce
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 green onions, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, finely chopped
Handful of finely chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Lettuce leaves to serve

Mix the bulgur wheat, salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, red pepper paste and the chopped onion and knead thoroughly – this will help all the flavors marry and the onion to soften-. Pour the hot water over this mixture and stir, then leave to stand for about 15 minutes. It should absorb all the water by the end of this period. The bulgur should be of a dry consistency.

Add the lemon juice and the pomegranate syrup together with the extra virgin olive oil and knead well again. Stir in the remaining ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Serve as a salad in a bowl garnished with lettuce leaves. Alternatively, take spoonfuls of the mixture and with wet hands roll into balls the size of walnuts. Refrigerate until required.

Note: Bulgur wheat unlike cracked wheat, is a grain made from the cooked wheat berries which have the bran removed, and are then dried and pounded. There are two varieties generally available, fine and coarse. If you can get the fine bulgur wheat, use 1/2 cup water for 1 cup fine bulgur wheat.