Purslane Salad with Garlic Dressing / Semizotu Salatası

Writer's Note:  It's been ages since I've posted.  Since my last post I got hitched, bought a house, and got pregnant.  It's been a busy couple of years but I am hoping to reinvigorate this blog this year.  This is my all-time favorite salad -- purslane with lemon garlic dressing.  It's difficult to find purslane in the States and when you do, it is probably expensive even though it is considered a weed here.  I've planted it in my garden this year so hopefully in a few months I'll be posting even more recipes.

Ingredients:

1 large bunch purslane, leaves picked and stems discarded
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions: Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves and 1/3 teaspoon salt to a fine paste.  Using a fork, mix the garlic paste, olive oil, and lemon juice to make the dressing.  Dress the purslane leaves and serve.  Purslane leaves are delicate and should not be left in the dressing for more than a few hours.

The Perfect Summer Salad

Writer's Note: It's hot.  Almost too hot to eat.  But if you must eat, eat this.  It is the perfect summer salad -- something about the dill, lemon and salt create a blissful dressing that you will find yourself going back to over and over again.  Simple, clean, and ideal for a hot summer night.

 

 

Ingredients:

2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, peeled, quartered and sliced thin
3 large sprigs dill, minced
juice from half a lemon
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2/3 tsp. salt

Directions:

Mis the ingredient and allow the tomato and cucumber to marinate in the dressing for at least 30 minutes before serving.  The salt is an important component of the dressing -- do not leave it out!

Cold White Bean Salad / Fasulye Piyazı

Writer's Note: I was recently in San Francisco and went to Pera, a new Turkish restaurant, for lunch. We ordered an assortment of mezes (appetizers) and the cold white bean salad was, in a word, phenomenal. If you live in San Francisco and you want a nice meze lunch, I highly recommend a visit to Pera: www.perasf.com. I called them and the head chef gave me their recipe, which I include below. For those of us who don't live in SF, we have to make do with the dishes that come out of our own kitchens.  I decorated the dish with hard-boiled eggs and lemon slices which is the traditional serving style in Turkey.  Quite 1950s-esque.  Don't worry, Pera serves a much more modern version of the dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup white beans, soaked overnight in lightly salted water

6 scallions, using only the middle light green sections, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 cup whole parsley leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes, split in half

good extra virgin olive oil, Pera uses Dafni brand, which they highly recommend

3-4 tbsp. red wine vinegar

3 hard-boiled eggs, optional

slices of lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the white beans in salted water until they are just tender. Do not let them get mushy or the dish will turn to bean mash.

Cool outside of the fridge for a few hours in a large pan or on a large tray, and then put in the fridge until they are completely cooled.

At least an hour before serving, toss with the olive oil, vinegar, scallions, parsley leaves, salt and pepper and allow the flavors to marry.

Decorate with cherry tomatoes or halved hard-boiled eggs, if you like, and serve with lemon slices.

Black-Eyed Peas and Swiss Chard

Writer's Note:  This is my go-to dish for the week.  Make a giant pot and take it to work for lunch or heat it up when you get home from a long day.  Healthy, no nonsense, and easy to make.  Also, it tastes damn good.  Some may find the garam masala too strong for this dish -- a simple blend of cumin and coriander may be a softer alternative.  You can substitute chickpeas if black-eyed peas aren't your favorite.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black-eyed peas, soaked in water overnight
1 large bunch rainbow or red chard
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garam masala or 1/2 tsp. cumin & 1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/3 - 1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper or cayenne (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut the stems off the chard and dice the same size as the onion.  Cut the chard leaves into 2 inch thick strips. 

Saute onion and chard stems in olive oil over medium-high heat in a deep skillet for a few minutes.  Add the spices so they brown a little with the onions.  Continue to saute for 7-8 minutes until the stems are soft.

Add the chard leaves and black-eyed peas and saute for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly until the leaves are a bit wilted. 

Add the broth and cover the skillet, stirring ocassionally, until the beans are cooked through and the chard is soft.  Add a few tbsp. of water if the beans are still hard and there is no liquid left in the skillet.  Serve with garlic yogurt or plain.

White Asparagus / Beyaz Kuşkonmaz

Writer's Note: The move to Germany has unfortunately taken a bit of time so I am only just getting to updating the blog. In honor of white asparagus season (that is weiss spargel for those of you in the know), here is a new recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. white or green asparagus, peeled and cut into 2-3 in. pieces

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. dried mint

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil over medium heat until hot and add mint and salt. Add asparagus and saute until a little wilted, about 4-7 minutes depending on the thickness of your spargel. Add 2-3 tbsp. hot water and cover to steam. Remove lid and saute a little longer until just tender. Serve hot as a main course with a nice white wine.

Cauliflower and Potatoes with Turmeric, Fennel Seeds and Mustard Seeds

Writer's Note: OK, I admit it. This is an Indian dish I adopted from Madhur Jaffrey. But I think it would appeal to the Turkish palate. And it is a comfort dish I turn to when the weather's cold and I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. clarified butter, or 2 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

3-4 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. brown mustards seeds

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Melt the butter or olive oil and butter in a wide deep skillet. Add the mustard seeds and fennel seeds and let them cook for 2-3 minutes until the sizzle. Add the potatoes and saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the cauliflower and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Add the turmeric and stir so it coats the vegetables.

Add 3 tbsp. of hot water and cover the skillet, shaking the skillet to both coat the vegetables with the turmeric and steam the vegetables so they cook faster. Remove the cover and add the Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook, stirring, until the vegetables are cooked through and a little browned. Serve hot plain or with garlic yogurt.

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Olive Oil / Zeytinyağlı Taze Fasulye

Writer's Note: Most Americans like their vegetables crunchy. Fair point. No need to cook them to death. But this particular dish is lovely when the beans are soft and melt in your mouth. Best served with crunchy bread and a cold glass of rakı.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 lb. frozen or fresh flat Italian green beans, defrosted

1 tsp. salt

pinch of sugar

1 lb. can or fresh peeled whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over low-medium heat and add onions. Cook onions until they are translucent. Add green beans, sugar, salt, and tomatoes and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes and green beans are soft. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Red Lentil Soup / Mercimek Çorbası

Writer's Note: Today I read the first 50 pages of Russell Brand's memoirs, "My Booky Wook." (I should be writing my paper on civil-military relations in Turkey but I cannot resist Russell--he's candy for my brain.) Russell, you over-sexed madcap weirdo, you made me laugh like a psych ward banshee on the cross-trainer. If you haven't heard of Russell Brand immediately stop reading this blog and go youtube him. Don't worry about your hungry family, Russell will make the hunger pangs go away. This soup is so easy you can watch Russell and make dinner at the same time.

Ingredients:

4 cups beef or chicken or vegetable stock*

1 cup red lentils

1 onion, diced small

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper

1/2 tsp. of butter for each bowl of soup

1/2 tsp. dried mint for each bowl of soup

1/2 tsp. cayenne or Aleppo pepper total (optional)

quartered lemons for each bowl of soup

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a pot over low heat and add the onions. Saute them until they are very soft, about 6 minutes, it's ok if they brown a little bit.

Add the lentils and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the beef broth, salt, and Aleppo pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are very soft (try them to make sure there is no "bite" left in them). They will swell and absorb most of the liquid in the pot after about 15 minutes. You can make the soup thinner by adding water if you find it too thick.

Using a hand-held blender or a regular blender, blend the soup until it is a creamy consistency.

Serve the bowls of soup with the quartered lemons and pour the sizzling butter over each bowl at the table. To make the sizzling butter, melt it in a small saucepan with the dried mint and the cayenne or Aleppo pepper if you so desire. Once it froths, pour it over the soup.

Watch Russell, eat soup, and cry tears of joy.

*I prefer beef stock but you can make it lighter with chicken stock, or vegan with vegetable stock.

Oven-Roasted Beets / Fırında Pancar

Writer's Note: Today I walked into my kitchen and turned around in circles in despair. The fridge is full of food, cooked and uncooked, and I just hung my head. Le sigh. And then I spotted the beets. Two, huge brilliant beets. Right. I'm going to roast some beets. I have never seen roasted beets in Turkey but I figure a few Turkish spices and I can throw them under imaginative Turkish cuisine. Better than throwing myself under a bus.

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 medium beets

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Urfa pepper

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

juice from half a lemon

Directions: Preheat oven to 4o0 degrees. Peel the beets and cut them into large chunks -- 1/8 chunks for large beets. Mix with the other ingredients. Cover a baking pan with a large piece of aluminum foil and lay beets in the middle. Fold over the edges and scrunch over the beets. A small opening in the top is ok. Roast for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with the bubbling sauce spooned over the beets. Eat to dispel morosity.

Artichoke Hearts and Fava Beans with Dill

Writer's Note: Usually this dish is cooked for a full 30-45 minutes. I wanted to see if I could reduce the cooking time to 10-15 minutes so the vegetables would be slightly firmer and fresher tasting. This is one of my mom's recipes but also a classic Turkish dish. The convenience of frozen vegetables should not be underestimated -- they retain a significant amount of their nutrition and it means you can make this dish on an off night if you keep the main ingredients in the freezer.

The dish is vegan -- my friend, Chloe, who is an amazing person, is a vegan who doesn't eat wheat products. Talk about hard core. I've been having trouble coming up with vegan dishes that would meet Chloe's high culinary standards, but I think this one fits the bill.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, 12 oz.*

half a yellow onion, diced

1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas

1/2 - 1 cup frozen young fava beans

leaves from 5-6 small stalks of fresh dill, coarsely chopped

juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a lemon to decorate

4 tbsp. olive oil

2 pinches sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Defrost the frozen vegetables by running them under hot water for a minute or two. You can defrost the peas and fava beans together but defrost the artichoke hearts separately since they will be cooked at different times.

Heat 2 tbsp. of the olive oil in a small pot for a minute over medium heat and then add the onions, sugar and salt. Turn the heat down to low and saute the onions for 5 minutes until they are soft -- stir often so they don't brown.

Add the artichoke hearts and saute for about 5 minutes and then add the peas and fava beans and a small squeeze of lemon from the half you are going to use. Cook over low heat for an additional five minutes and then turn off the heat.

Cool the vegetables in the pot or a small bowl, covered, on the counter for 30 minutes. Continue to cool in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. When you are ready to serve, whisk the rest of the juice from the 1/2 lemon with the remaining 2 tbsp. of olive oil and stir into the dish. Stir in the dill, keeping a little to decorate the top of the dish.

Serve chilled or at room temperature with quartered lemon.

*I used the frozen artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's.

Pomegranate and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Writer's Note: This is certainly not a traditional Turkish salad but given that it is winter and impossible to get good, fresh tomatoes here in the chilly arctic tundra (also known as Cambridge, MA), I thought I would post one of my favorite winter salads. If nothing else, pomegranate seeds are very popular in Turkey and used in several dishes, especially sprinkled on desserts.

Over the holidays I was visiting Napa and picked up a lovely bottle of pomegranate balsamic vinegar, perfect for this salad. No need to run out and buy it -- this dressing works just as well with regular balsamic vinegar. Peeling a pomegranate may seem daunting but it is actually easy: cut off the top just a little into the body of the pomegranate. Score the outside of the fruit in two intersecting circles just deep enough to go through the skin (you will be cutting a little into the seeds but that is unavoidable) and then break the body into four quarters and pull the seeds out with your fingers. One for me, one for the bowl, two for me . . .

Ingredients:

seeds from 1 ripe pomegranate

1 bunch of baby Arugula

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup pomegranate or regular balsamic vinegar

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. dried mint (optional)

Directions:

Wash the arugula thoroughly and then dry. Put the arugula in a shallow bowl or on a platter and sprinkle the seeds on top.

For the vinaigrette, whisk the the olive oil into the vinegar with a fork, adding the vinegar in a slow drizzle so that it emulsifies. Continue to whisk and add the sugar, salt, and dried mint, if you want. A little sugar and salt is sufficient, and should be added according to your taste. My measurements on the vinegar to oil ratio are pretty generous with the vinegar but I really don't like oily dressing. You can reduce the ratio to 1:3 if you want a more traditional vinaigrette.

Serve the salad with the dressing drizzled on top and some on the side for those who want extra.