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Antalya style bean salad with tahini sauce

By Ozlem Warren on August 6, 2024 in Salads, Vegetarian recipes 0

Antalya style bean salad with tahini sauce – Tahinli piyaz. Photo by Sam A Harris from SEBZE cookery book

This Antalya style bean salad with tahini sauce, Tahinli piyaz, is one of my favourite recipes from my recent cookery book, SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen. It makes a substantial, delicious lunch or perfect aside to grills, pasta. I hope you enjoy my recipe here. You can get a copy of SEBZE cookery book worldwide at this link too.

SEBZE, Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen

Antalya style bean salad with tahini sauce

We have a variety of bean salads in Türkiye and this Tahinli Fasulye Piyazı is a specialty from the Antalya region, on the southwest coast of Türkiye. It makes a substantial, nutritious, great-value lunch with flatbreads to mop up the delicious sauce.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetarian recipes

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins pre-cooked cannellini beans (or equivalent dried beans)
½ small onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
45 g (1¾ oz/1/3 cup) Turkish or other good-quality black olives, pitted and halved
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the tahini sauce
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
juice of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon grape or cider vinegar
60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) lukewarm water
To serve
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Drain and rinse the pre-cooked beans, then place in a large bowl (If you prefer to use dried beans, as it is traditional in Türkiye, you need to soak them in cold water overnight. Drain and put them in a pan with plenty of fresh water, and cook for about 1 hour, or until tender, adding salt towards the end of the cooking time. Drain and set aside in a bowl, to be used in this salad). Stir in the onions and gently combine.
To make the tahini sauce, combine the garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin and a good pinch of salt with the tahini in a small bowl. Stir and combine well; you will notice the sauce will thicken. Pour in the vinegar and lukewarm water and combine well for 30 seconds. You will achieve a runny sauce at the end. Pour this sauce over the beans and gently combine well.
Stir the tomatoes, parsley and olives into the salad and combine well, then check the seasoning and adjust to your taste.
Transfer the salad to a serving plate, decorate with the quartered, hard-boiled eggs, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and serve.

Sebzeli Bulgur Pilavı – Bulgur Pilaf with Aubergines, Peppers,Tomatoes

By Ozlem Warren on July 3, 2024 in Pilafs and Rice, Vegetarian recipes 0

This is a really lovely dish, a meal in itself. Traditionally, aubergines (eggplant) and peppers are finely diced here, though I love their texture and keep them on the chunky side. I also prefer to bake them rather than frying – lighter and equally delicious. This is especially enjoyed during the summer at home, when the aubergine, peppers and tomatoes are in abundance. If you can get ripe tomatoes, you can dice them to use instead of tinned. The cooling cucumber and yoghurt dip, Cacık, complements this dish beautifully.

SEBZE, Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen

This Bulgur Pilaf with Aubergines, Peppers,Tomatoes, is one of the 85 delicious vegetarian Turkish recipes from my recent cookbook, SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen. Recipes with tips to prep ahead, freeze, and variations when applicable. I am very proud of this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much I loved writing. You can order a copy of SEBZE here, worldwide.

I hope you enjoy this delicious Sebzeli Bulgur Pilavı,

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Sebzeli Bulgur Pilavı - Bulgur Pilaf with Aubergines, Peppers,Tomatoes

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetarian recipes

Cuisine: Turkish recipes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines (eggplant), trimmed
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 green and 1 red (bell) pepper
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon double concentrated tomato paste
400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
400 g (14 oz/2¼ cups) coarse bulgur, rinsed
460 ml (16 fl oz/1¾ cups) hot water
1 teaspoon pul biber
1 teaspoon dried mint
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the cacık dip
150 g (5 oz) cucumber, diced
275 g (10 oz/generous 1 cup) plain yoghurt (or plant-based alternative)
dried mint, to sprinkle
sea salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Cut the aubergine lengthways in quarters and then slice into 1 cm (½ in) pieces. Lay them on a baking sheet and sprinkle salt over them, and set aside for 10 minutes (salt will help the moisture and bitter juices come out of the aubergine).
Dry the aubergines and baking sheet thoroughly with sturdy paper towels and spread the aubergines in one layer. Pour 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over and use your hands to coat well. Bake for 20 minutes.
Cut the peppers in half, deseed and remove the hard stalk. Cut each half into 3 wedges and slice each wedge into 1 cm (½ in) chunks. When the aubergines have had 20 minutes in the oven, remove and stir in the chopped peppers. Pour over 2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake for a further 20 minutes until the vegetables start to char at the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespooon of oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, and bring to a gentle boil. Stir in the rinsed bulgur and combine well, then pour in the hot water, season with pul biber, salt and pepper, and mix well. Cover and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes, or until the bulgur has absorbed all the liquid. Turn the heat off, cover the pan with a clean dish towel and place the lid on firmly. Rest the pilaf for 10 minutes (the towel will absorb excess moisture).
Gently combine the baked aubergine and peppers with the bulgur, stir in the dried mint and combine well.
For the cacık dip, simply combine the diced cucumbers with the yoghurt in a bowl. Sprinkle over some dried mint, season with salt to taste and mix well. Serve on the side of the pilaf.

Chard Cooked in Olive Oil with Veg and Rice; Zeytinyağlı Pazı

By Ozlem Warren on April 16, 2024 in SEBZE, Vegetables Cooked in Olive Oil 0

Merhaba dear All,

I wanted to share one of my favourite recipes from my new book, SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen. This Chard Cooked in Olive Oil with Onion, Peppers and Rice, Zeytinyağlı Pazı, is a lovely and easy dish to enjoy pazı (chard), grown mostly in the northwest, Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean and the Mediterranean regions. Its gently tart flavour is delicious here. These large leaves are also used for making pazı sarması, rolled chard leaves with aromatic rice and sometimes with fresh Turkish curd cheese (lor peyniri). My family also loves this dish hot on cold days, with a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over.

Prepare ahead and variations: This dish is great to prepare ahead – in fact, leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavours develop, a characteristic of zeytinyağlı dishes. You can use spinach or large leafy collard greens instead of chard. You can also use bulgur (not gluten-free) or quinoa (gluten-free) instead of rice.

Serving suggestions: Serve crusty bread or my gluten-free Corn Bread from SEBZE cookery book on the side to mop up the delicious juices, if you like. You can order a copy of SEBZE worldwide here.

SEBZE, Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen, order here

Afiyet olsun and my sincere thanks for your support,

Ozlem xx

Chard Cooked in Olive Oil with Veg and Rice; Zeytinyağlı Pazı

This is a lovely and easy dish to enjoy pazı (chard), grown mostly in the northwest, Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean and the Mediterranean regions. Its gently tart flavour is delicious here. These large leaves are also used for making pazı sarması, rolled chard leaves with aromatic rice and sometimes with fresh Turkish curd cheese (lor peyniri). My family also loves this dish hot on cold days, with a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over. Prepare ahead and variations: This dish is great to prepare ahead – in fact, leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavours develop, a characteristic of zeytinyağlı dishes. You can use spinach or large leafy collard greens instead of chard. You can also use bulgur (not gluten-free) or quinoa (gluten-free) instead of rice. Serving suggestions: Serve crusty bread or my gluten-free Corn Bread from SEBZE cookery book on the side to mop up the delicious juices, if you like.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetarian recipes

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red or yellow onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (use more if you like it spicy)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon double concentrated tomato paste
230 g (8 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
450g (1 lb) chard, cleaned, halved lengthways and roughly chopped into 1 cm (½ in) pieces
85 g (3 oz/scant ½ cup) long-grain rice, rinsed
460 ml (16 fl oz/scant 2 cups) hot water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To serve (optional)
plain yoghurt (or plant-based alternative)
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large, wide saucepan over a medium–high heat, add the onion and sauté for 3–4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the chilli, garlic, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes to the pan (save the tin for later), combine well and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped chard and gently combine and wilt over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes. Add the rinsed rice and combine well.
Rinse the chopped tomato tin with some of the hot water and pour all the liquid into the pan, season with salt and pepper, give it a good stir, then cover and cook for 20–25 minutes over a low–medium heat until the rice and vegetables are cooked. Turn the heat off and leave to rest for 10 minutes, covered.
When the weather is warm, we traditionally eat this dish cold or at room temperature. On cold days, we enjoy it hot with a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over.