Celery Salad

This is a very easy and healthy recipe.

Note: This recipe is for 4 people, as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 1 celery heart
• 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts
• 2 cups of plain yogurt (Greek is better)
• Olive oil
• Mint and oregano

Preparation

Chop celery and put in a food processor, then take it into a large bowl. Add crushed walnuts, yogurt and a little bit olive oil, stir. Take it to a service plate and put the leaves of celery, dry mint and oregano on top of it to decorate. Enjoy!

Dolma (Grape Leaves)

Dolma is a Turkish meal, which means 'stuffed'. It has spread to Eastern Europe during Ottoman Empire. Now, it is a well known dish especially in Europe and USA. Originally it is stuffed with ground beef and rice, but in some places meat is not used in recipe. I prefer not to include meat to the recipe as well.

Note: This recipe is for 5-6 people

Ingredients

• 2 cups of white rice
• 1 jar of grave leaves
• 1 small onion
• 1 small tomato
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dry mint
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 lemon juice
• Water

Preparation

Put olive oil in a pot, add chopped onions and cook them until they change color. 

Wash rice with the help of a strainer and then add it into the pot and cook couple of minutes. Then add the ingredients with this order while cooking; mint, oregano, black pepper, cinnamon, sugar, chopped tomato, lemon juice and salt. Then add warm water, close the lid and cook until all water is gone. You do not need to add a lot of water, it should be a little bit higher than rice.

Take grape leaves out of jar and boil them in hot water couple of minutes and then strain the water. After they  get cold, take a cutting board and put one grape leaf on it. Put about 1 dessertspoon fill on the grape leave like a line and start rolling.  

To do that first you close the bottom part, then two sides and then start to roll. They need to be tight so, be careful while rolling. 

Line all the rolls in a flat pan tightly, then put some lemons on top. Add some cold water, like 1/2 inch higher than rolls, close the lid and cook 1 hour on low heat. If it still has some water after one hour, you need to cook more. You can serve it with lemon and yogurt. Enjoy!

Eggplant salad

I took this recipe from a friend. I guess this is a traditional salad in Eastern Europe.

Note: This recipe is for 4-5 people, depending on how you serve it.

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 cups of yogurt
• 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts
• 2-3 slice garlic
• Fresh dill
• Canola/vegetable oil

Preparation

First peel and chop eggplant in small pieces. 

Take them into a medium saucepan, add some oil, close the lid and cook them until they get really soft. You may need to stir occasionally to do that. If you do not want to fry, you can broil the eggplant 20 minutes in the oven.

It is best if you use the yogurt you made at home, but the trick is yogurt should be a little bit solid. In order to have that kind of yogurt, you can strain it from a clean cloth. Take the yogurt in a glass pan, first add the cooked eggplant and stir. Then add garlic and fresh dill. Lastly, add crushed walnuts.

The salad is ready. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Dessert

I wanted to share a pumpkin dessert recipe before the pumpkin period over. It is a traditional dessert from a small city in South-East part of Turkey.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs pumpkin
• 3 cups of sugar
• 1-2 cups of crushed walnuts

Preparation

Peel and slice pumpkins in any way you like, then lay them over a glass pan. Scatter all the sugar over the pumpkin slices. 

Wait 5-6 hours until all sugar melts and bake in a preheated oven at 375 F about 45 minutes. Check if they are cooked with the help of a fork, if they are soft enough you can take them from oven. Serve with crushed walnuts. You can add as much as walnut you want, I actually like with a lot of them.

Enjoy!

Lentil Balls

Today's recipe is an appetizer consumed usually during the afternoon tea in Turkey. There are also different variations in Indian cuisine.

Note: This recipe is for 5-6 people 

Ingredients

• 2 cups of red lentil
• 1 cup of Bulgar wheat
• 1 tablespoon tomato/red pepper paste (I used both)
• 4 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable/canola oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon red flare pepper
• 3 teaspoons cumin
• Parsley
• 1 small onion
• 3 green onions 

Preparation

Take a pot and put lentils in it, add water and boil them on medium heat. After they boil, lower the heat. After lentils absorb almost all water add Bulgar wheat, turn off the heat, close the lid and wait about 15 minutes, until they are combined.

In the mean time chop onions in small pieces, take a pan, put butter or oil on it and add onions. Roast them until they cooked well, add tomato/red pepper paste and cook couple of minutes more. 

Take a large bowl put lentil and wheat mixture in it, add onion mixture and smash it with your hand. Be careful it will be very hot. After all the mixture become red, add salt, pepper and cumin and knead. Lastly add chopped parsley and green onion and knead one more time (I did not add green onion, cause I did not have, but it will taste better if you add).

Give them and oval shape with your hand.

You can serve them with lemon and lettuce. Enjoy!

Tortilla Pizza

To make pizza out of tortilla is super easy, and the taste is still good. If you do not have much time you should definitely try this recipe.

Ingredients

• 10-12 tortilla breads

For the fill

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup olive/canola/vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)
• 2 sweet peppers 
• 1 small onion 
• 2 tomatoes 
• 1 piece of garlic
• Parsley
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Red flare pepper

Preparation

First chop tomatoes, onion and peppers in small pieces, mince garlic and then put all the ingredients for the fill a large bowl and knead until all of them mixed together. 

Lay tortilla breads on aluminium foil and spread the mixture on top tortillas. 

Preheat oven to 400F and bake them about 15 minutes. After you take them from oven put in a pan on top of each other and cover the pan with aluminium foil or a tablecloth. In this way they will be softer. 

If you want them to be crispy, put them on the service plate after taking it from the oven and do not cover. 

Potato Balls

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized potatoes
• 2 cups of Greek or plain yogurt (it is better with Greek)
• 1/8 cup of olive oil
• 3-4 garlic
• Salt
• Red flare pepper
• Dry mint
• Oregano

Preparation

Boil potatoes and take them to a large bowl after peeling. Crush them with a potato musher or with your hand. Add some salt and oregano and make little balls from this mixture. Put balls into a glass pan.

Put yogurt in a bowl and add minced garlic. If you use Greek yogurt, add some water, but not too much. Pour yogurt mixture on top of the potatoes. 

Lastly, place a pan on a medium heat and put olive oil on it. When oil is heated add dry mint and red flare pepper and take it from heat immediately. 

Pour oil on top of yogurt.