Merhaba Dear All,
It’s has been very hot recently and we have been enjoying this lovely Chickpea/Garbanzo Bean Salad with sumac onions, peppers, spinach and tomatoes a lot. This is a delicious variation of the much loved Turkish bean salad, Fasulye Piyazi with some more veg added to it. We love chickpeas and they are fantastic paired with cumin (as in hummus), and with sumac infused onions in this refreshing, nutritious salad. If you like greens, by all means add more spinach or pepper here. It is a lovely, easy to make substantial salad for lunch, can be served as part of meze or a side to grilled vegetables, fish or meat. You can use cannellini or your other favourite cooked beans in this salad instead of chickpeas too.
Note: If you prefer to use the dried chickpeas, you need to soak them in cold water overnight. Then drain the chickpeas and put them in a pan with plenty of fresh water. Cook for about 60 minutes or until tender, adding salt toward the end of the cooking time. Drain and set aside in a bowl, to be used in this salad.
- 1 x 14oz can of precooked chickpea / garbanzo beans
- 1tsp/5ml ground sumac (use more if you are a fan!)
- 1tsp/5ml ground cumin
- ½ medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 3 spring onions/scallions, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
- 40g/1 ½ oz spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped
- For the dressing:
- 30ml/2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ juice of lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Sprinkle of extra sumac to serve
- Flatbread or pita bread to serve
- In a mixing bowl, rub a pinch of salt and ground sumac into the onion slices with your hands really well. This will soften the onions and make them more palatable, will also help infuse tangy sumac to the onion slices.
- Place the precooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans on a colander, drain its liquid and rinse over running water. Combine the chickpeas with the onions in the mixing bowl. Stir in the ground cumin and season with salt to your taste, mix well.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes, peppers, spring onion and spinach into the bowl and combine well with the chickpeas and onion mixture.
- For the dressing; combine the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice in a small container. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to your taste.
- Pour in the seasoning over the salad and combine well. Transfer the salad into a serving plate. Serve with an extra pinch of ground sumac sprinkled over, if you like, with plenty flat breads or pita bread by the side, to mop up the delicious juices.
- Afiyet Olsun, Ozlem
Turkish Vegetarian Feast Supper Club and Pide Workshop at Aromas Café, Weybridge – Surrey
on Friday, August 28th evening from 7.30pm
Peynirli pide, Turkish flat breads with cheese, spinach and pepper topping is at our Turkish cookery course
We are absolutely delighted to re-start our workshops and supper clubs at the Aromas Café, Weybridge and we can’t wait to welcome you back!
Please join us at our Turkish Vegetarian Feast Supper Club and Pide Workshop at Aromas Café, Weybridge, on Friday, August 28th evening from 7.30 pm. We will serve you some scrumptious healthy Turkish and Mediterranean vegetarian dishes as below and moreover, you will get to make a vegetarian Pide, Oval Turkish flatbreads with vegetarian toppings at our workshop with Ozlem’s instructions and you will take your pide back home. We believe healthy food can also be very delicious and we will show you how. We hope the workshop inspires you and bring delicious Mediterrenean and Turkish flavours to your table.
We will serve the below vegetarian and Ozlem will give you tips on how to make them:
Hummus with red pepper flakes infused olive oil
Spicy bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses – Kisir
Smoked aubergine salad with garlicky youghurt and dried mint
Our slice of Pide to enjoy as part of your dinner
Baked dried apricots with walnuts, served with vanilla ice cream
Pide with vegetarian fillings workshop during the night!:
And during the night, at our workshop, you will also get to make Pide with a variety of fillings to choose as below (please tell us which filling you would like to use upon booking, so that we can get it ready for you) – you will get to take your Pide back home:
Filling options – please tell us which filling you’d like to use:
1) sauteed courgette, peppers, olives
3) spinach, peppers and feta cheese
4) grated mozarellla and tomato
Cost per person: 55 GBP (includes the hands on workshop, Ozlem’s tuition, all ingredients, the vegetarian courses to enjoy during the night, a glass of bubbly, tea or coffee)
Participation is limited so please book your spot soon at this link soon! This workshop can also make a lovely present for a foodie too. Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book is also available during the event.
We look forward to welcoming you at Aromas on August 28th at our delicious event.
Kurban Bayrami – Eid In Istanbul
It’s been really special to be able to make it to Istanbul to see my dear mother, Gulcin, my sister and family, during the past Kurban Bayrami, Eid. I haven’t been able to see them for a long while; it was a precious time spend together. As with every Turkish gathering with family, it included feasts to share – Turkish breakfast, dinners, Turkish coffee and more. Here are a few photos for you – including a special photo above with my dear mum Gulcin and my lovely niece Defne.
Our Bayram Turkish breakfast, my favourite meal of the day. Traybake Borek, Filo Pastry with Spinach and cheese is everyone’s favourite, here’s my recipe and my youtube video links.
And scrumptious Bayram meals shared with family; I love how these special events bring us together. My cousin’s home made Baklava with walnuts were delicious, here’s my recipe and youtube vide on how to make baklava, it is easier than you think and so delicious.
Last but not least, my dear cousin Nihal hosted us for another family feast – her Tray bake Kebab, Antakya’s Tepsi Kebabi was so delicious. This is such an easy kebab to make at home, here’s my recipe if you like to give a go.
Ozlem’s Turkish Table Booksigning in Bebek – Istanbul
I also managed to do a little book signing while in Istanbul, at the lovely Bebek district – thank you Emily for your kind interest for Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book!
A little reminder that signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book are delivered worldwide, including US and Canada at this link – You can also see also kindle, ebook etc options here (Delighted to share that kindle version of Ozlem’s Turkish table is No.3 in Canada for Turkish cooking, thank you!). You can see all options here via GBPublishing.
My best wishes and Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
My very best wishes to you all for the festive season; and my sincere thanks for all your support and kind words for Ozlem’s Turkish Table – 65 – 5 star reviews on Amazon UK – ; it gives me so much happiness hearing you enjoy my recipes and it helps you to connect to this special land and remember, recreate fond memories.