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Baked beetroots, celeriac, carrots and green lentils with pomegranate molasses

By Ozlem Warren on December 28, 2020 in Gluten-free recipes, Ozlem’s Turkish Table Cookery Book, Turkish Cooking Classes, Vegan / Plant based, Vegetables Cooked in Olive Oil 0

We love beetroots – pancar -, celeriac – kereviz – and carrots – havuc – in Turkish cuisine. Root vegetables, and vegetables in general feature a lot in healthy, delicious Turkish cooking, based on seasonal produce. With my roots going back to southern Turkey, Antakya, our natural condiment pomegranate molasses, nar eksisi, is used widely in our meals too. From Kisir, Spicy bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses to Stuffed courgette/zucchini with chickpeas , ground meat in pomegranate sauce and more, this delicious, tangy sauce is much loved in our kitchen, very healthy too. You can make your own pomegranate molasses with my recipe here, if you’d like.

I recently baked beetroots, celeriac and carrots with red onions, and then mixed with cooked green lentils, served with a simple sauce of pomegranate molasses, olive oil and lemon juice. It turned out to be a light, healthy vegetarian course, packed with flavor. It works great with grills, pasta or as a delicious vegetarian meal on its own. Leftovers can be kept in fridge 2-3 days too. Here is also another Baked beetroot with pomegranate molasses and walnuts recipe, if you like to try out this one too.

I hope you enjoy making this delicious plant based dish, celebrating seasonal root vegetables and wholesome green lentils.

Baked beetroots, celeriac, carrots and green lentils with pomegranate molasses

We love beetroots – pancar -, celeriac – kereviz - and carrots – havuc – in Turkish cuisine. Root vegetables, and vegetables in general feature a lot in healthy, delicious Turkish cooking, based on seasonal produce. I recently baked beetroots, celeriac and carrots with red onions, and then mixed with cooked green lentils, served with a simple sauce of pomegranate molasses, olive oil and lemon juice. It turned out to be a light, healthy vegetarian course, packed with flavor. It works great with grills, pasta or as a delicious vegetarian meal on its own. Leftovers can be kept in fridge 2-3 days too.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Plant based / Vegan

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: 6

Ingredients

690g/1lb 8oz -6 medium raw beetroots, peeled, cut into small chunks
630g/1lb 6oz -1 medium celeriac, peeled and cut into small chunks
600g/1lb 5oz baby carrots, washed, topped and halved lengthways (or large carrots, cut in small chunks)
1 large red onion, peeled, cut into small wedges
140g/5oz green lentils, rinsed
60ml/4tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pomegranate molasses sauce:
30ml/2tbsp pomegranate molasses
15ml/1tbsp water
60ml/6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ juice of lemon
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped – to serve

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6
Put the prepared vegetables on a large baking tray. Drizzle with 4 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.
While the vegetables are baking, cook the green lentils. Place the rinsed green lentils on a medium pan. Pour in hot water and boil for 25 minutes over medium heat. Stir once in a while so the lentils won’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Once cooked, drain and rinse over cold water over colander/sieve. Set the cooked green lentils aside in a bowl.
After 35 minutes of roasting, check the vegetables and gently mix. Remove the foil and roast for a further 15 minutes, until tender and starting to colour at the edges.
Once baked, combine the cooked green lentils with the baked vegetables.
For the pomegranate molasses sauce; mix the pomegranate molasses, nar eksisi, with water, lemon juice and the extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Pour the sauce over the baked vegetables and green lentils and combine gently.
Place the baked vegetables and lentils on a serving plate. Scatter over the chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Afiyet Olsun.

New Online Cookery Classes

Ozlem’s Turkish Table ~ Peri’s Spice Ladle – Healthy Lentils and Beans Virtual Cooking Class ; Friday January 8th 2021

Please join us to kick start the New Year at virtual cooking session on Friday, January 8th across time zones (9a Pacific Time, that’s 5p UK time) as we will be teaching healthy, plant-forward, family-friendly lentil and beans dishes from the Turkish and Indian cuisines. Prominent food writer and amazing cookery instructor Perinaz Avari is passionate about her native Parsi and Indian food, as I am about wholesome Turkish Cuisine. We would be delighted to have you with us at this delicous, wholesome, comforting class.

Please kindly see the class details and register at this link to join the class, we look forward to cooking together and taking you to a culinary journey to our homelands.

Please visit my Cookery Classes page for more upcoming Turkish cookery classes.

Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book and Apron

My sincere thanks to you all for your amazing response and support for Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book this year. This special book has been my way of celebrating my southern Turkish roots, passing down my mother and grandmother’s delicious, wholesome recipes as well as popular, authentic Turkish recipes to food lovers. It sold over 7,000 copies worldwide, won Gourmands Best in the World Award in Food Heritage category. I am delighted to share that its 4th print run now on its way. My very sincere thanks to GB Publishing and Pinar Foods UK and to you dear readers, for your amazing support. It’s been very special to share my homeland’s delicious, healthy recipes with you all and I can’t wait to keep on sharing even more.

Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book are available at this link here, it is delivered worldwide including the US. We are also delighted to offer you this special Ozlem’s Turki sh Table apron. It is special to my heart, as it is made in Turkey, with my hometown Antakya’s celebrated daphne leaves in the hand embroidered design – this lovely apron could also make a wonderful gift for; you can get yours at this link. Delivered worldwide including the US.

Turkish Breakfast spread from Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book; photo credit: Sian Irvine Food Photography

My very best wishes to you all for the New Year, in good health, happiness and delicious food.

Mutlu Yillar, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Bulgur pilaf with freekeh, aubergine, tomatoes – Firikli Sebzeli Bulgur Pilavi

By Ozlem Warren on September 4, 2020 in Ozlem’s Turkish Table Cookery Book, Regional Signature Dishes; Mains, Sides and Desserts 8

I love freekeh’s nutty, smoky flavor – it used to feature at lot at my grandmother’s table in Antakya; she would combine freekeh with seasonal vegetables, meat or sometimes just with bulgur and fresh butter, which always tasted heavenly.

This dish is popular in southern Turkish cuisine, using the season’s bountiful tomatoes and aubergines / eggplant or patlican. The meaty aubergines and juicy tomatoes are a great match here with the wholegrains – a fantastic, all in one pot plant based dish. Locals in southern Turkey use the glorious, ripe tomatoes in this dish; I opted to use a good quality chopped can tomatoes as living abroad, it is not always easy to get ripe, sun kissed tomatoes. I did however use some sliced fresh tomatoes – as ripe as I could find- to decorate the top of this lovely dish, and it added extra freshness and flavour.

Some backround information on freekeh. Firik, (as in Turkish) or Freekeh (sometimes spelled frikeh) or farik is a cereal food made from green drum wheat that goes through a roasting process in its production. Firik is a popular and ancient grain used Middle Eastern & Southern Turkish cuisine and also popular in Levantine, Egyptian, Arabian Peninsula and North African cuisine. The wheat is harvested while the grains are yellow and the seeds are still soft; it is then piled and sun-dried. The piles are then carefully set on fire so only the straw and chaff burn and not the seeds. It is the high moisture content of the seeds that prevents them from burning. The now roasted wheat undergoes further thrashing and sun-drying to make the flavor, texture, and color uniform. It is this thrashing or rubbing process of the grains that gives this food its name, farīk or “rubbed.” The seeds are now cracked into smaller pieces so they look like a green bulgur.

This delicious, ancient grain freekeh is a similar food made from barley and it is also mentioned in the Bible. Freekeh is also considered as a superfood, as in the category of the healthy grains such as quinoa and farro. Freekeh has at least four times as much fiber as some other comparable grains, consisting mostly of insoluble fiber. It also has a low glycemic index so is suitable for managing diabetes. You can get freekeh in Middle Eastern or specialty food stores abroad, though it is widely available in Turkey. Bulgur is now widely available in supermarkets, so great to see. If you like to use a gluten-free option, you can replace bulgur with quinoa.

This is a bountiful dish and can easily feed 6 people or more. It also tastes great the next day and freezes well, so perfect for family meals or entertaining too. I also made another version of this Bulgur pilaf with aubergines, at my cookery book Ozlem’s Turkish Table (page 213), adding small chunks of meat there, if you fancy that version too. If you prefer not to use freekeh, you can omit and replace it with more bulgur here if you like. Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book is available at this link here and delivered worldwide, including the USA and Canada. You can also see ebook and other options here.

I hope you enjoy this delicious plant based recipe, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

4.7 from 3 reviews

Bulgur pilaf with freekeh, aubergine, tomatoes – Firikli Sebzeli Bulgur Pilavi

This dish is popular in southern Turkish cuisine, using the season’s bountiful tomatoes and aubergines / eggplant or patlican. The meaty aubergines and juicy tomatoes are a great match here with the wholegrains - a fantastic, all in one pot plant based dish. Locals in southern Turkey use the glorious, ripe tomatoes in this dish; I opted to use a good quality chopped can tomatoes as living abroad, it is not always easy to get ripe, sun kissed tomatoes. I did however use some sliced fresh tomatoes – as ripe as I could find- to decorate the top of this lovely dish, and it added extra freshness and flavour.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetarian, Vegan

Cuisine: Turkish

Serves: 6

Ingredients

350g/12oz coarse bulgur, rinsed and drained
110g/4oz freekeh, rinsed and drained
3 medium aubergines, quartered and sliced in 1cm chunks
2 medium onions, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
½ tbsp. Turkish red pepper paste, biber salcasi
15ml/1tbsp concentrated tomato paste
400g/14oz (1 can of) chopped tomatoes in juice
60ml/ 2fl oz olive oil – for baking the aubergines –
30ml/2tbsp olive oil – for cooking-
900ml / 1.6 pints hot water
5ml/1tsp Turkish red pepper flakes, pul biber
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped – to decorate

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
First prepare the eggplants (aubergines). Cut the aubergine in quarters and then slice into 1cm with pieces. Layer the aubergine pieces on a tray and sprinkle salt over them, leave them aside for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, dry the aubergines with kitchen or paper towel thoroughly.
Spread the aubergine slices in a baking tray and pour in the 60ml/2floz olive oil over them. Using your hands, make sure that all aubergine slices have a nice coating of the olive oil. Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes in the preheated oven at 200C / 400F. Aubergines will start to get crispy around the edges, a nice color and soften up (you can alternatively sauté your aubergines on a pan with olive oil, though I find the baking easier and healthier).
Heat the 2tbsp/30ml olive oil in a heavy, wide pan and sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes, until soft and they begin to color. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, red pepper paste, can of chopped tomatoes, Turkish red pepper flakes, pul biber and combine well.
Toss the sautéed aubergines to the pan and gently combine.
Now stir in the rinsed bulgur and freekeh to the pan and mix well. Pour in the hot water and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, combine well. Reduce the heat to low for simmering.
Place the tomato slices over the top, cover and cook for 30 minutes, until the liquid is evaporated and the grains are cooked (add a little more hot water if needed). Check the seasoning and add more salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste. Turn the heat off. I like to rest the dish and settle the flavours for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with refreshing Shepherd’s Salad, Coban Salatasi and/or Cacik dip with cucumber and yoghurt aside.

Hands On Turkish Cookery Classes and events with Ozlem Warren in Fethiye and Kalkan, Turkey!

October 20th and 21st, 2020

I am so delighted to be returning to Fethiye – Turkey, for a series of Hands on Turkish cookery classes and events and do hope you can make one of these, if you are nearby Fethiye.

Hands on Turkish cookery class on Tuesday, October 20th, 9.30am – 1pm at Yakamoz Hotel – Fethiye

Baklava; image from Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book, by Sian Irvine Photography

Please join us for a scrumptious hands on Turkish cookery class (including how to make home made baklava!) on Tuesday, October 20th, 9.30am – 1pm at Yakamoz Hotel – Fethiye, where we will cook a delicious menu from Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book together and then sit down and enjoy our creations at the Yakamoz Hotel’s beautiful grounds. Participation is limited, please visit my Cookery Classes page for all the details and registration.

If you like to join us at this fun and friendly hands on cookery class, please call Mehmet Yakamoz at +90 533 336 76 10 or email at yakamozone@hotmail.com to reserve your spot, participation is limited.

Turkish Style Lunch and Ozlem’s cookery demo and talk at Yakamoz Hotel, Fethiye

Tuesday, October 20th; 1.30pm – 4pm

Potato and bulgur patties with pomegranate molasses, from my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table

Please join us for a scrumptions Turkish style lunch at Yakamoz Hotel, on Tuesday, October 20th; 1.30pm – 4pm. Ozlem Warren, author of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book will be with us too, to give a talk on Turkish cuisine and demonstrate how to make Potato and bulgur patties with pomegranate molasses and will sign her cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, if anyone would like to get a copy.

Ozlem’s Turkish Table book signing at Fethiye!

If you like to join us at this exciting event, please call Mehmet Yakamoz at +90 533 336 76 10 or email at yakamozone@hotmail.com to reserve your spot, participation is limited. Please visit my Cookery Classes page for more information.

Ozlem’s Turkish Table Hands on Classes at Guru’s Place Cookery School, Kalkan –

Wednesday, October 21st, 9.45am – 2pm

“Ozlem Warren, International cookery teacher and the author of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book, is delighted to be visiting Guru’s Place Cookery School in Kalkan, on Wednesday, October 21st, 9.45am – 2pm, to co-teach hands-on cookery classes, with Huseyin Kayir, owner of the Guru’s Place Cookery School, Kalkan. We will cook together delicious Turkish recipes from Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book and then we will all sit down and enjoy our cooking, with a glass of wine. If you’d like to join the class, please kindly book your place and get in touch with Guru’s Place Cookery School at gurusplace@hotmail.com or call +905363311016. Participation is limited. Please visit my Cookery Classes page for full details of the class.

Baked zucchini with feta, spring onions and dill, Firinda Mucver

Do hope to be able to enjoy Turkish cuisine together with you in Fethiye in October, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Chickpea Salad with sumac onions, peppers, spinach and tomatoes

By Ozlem Warren on August 13, 2020 in Salads, Supper Clubs, Turkish cookery book 0

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.

Chickpea Salad with sumac onions, peppers, spinach and tomatoes

This is a delicious variation of the much loved Turkish beans 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.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegan, Healthy Salads

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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