Our time in Turkey was unbelievably rich. Our friends and neighbors were incredible about helping us get settled and comfortable, supporting us through homesickness and cultural differences, and sharing their lives with us. One of the ways in which we enjoyed learning through about the culture was through the food. From the dizzying arrays of sights, smells, and sounds at the open air markets, to the "rules" of proper preparation shared in the kitchen, to the experience of sharing a table-ful of amazing, freshly cooked foods with friends, Turkey has an amazing food culture. Not only is Turkey self-sufficient in food production (a rarity these days), but they have maintained traditions of growing, preparing, and consuming food for generations. Their cuisine is unbelievably consistent, meaning that you can eat or order a particular dish in a number of places and it always tastes the same.
As my friends generously taught me to properly prepare their dishes, I learned that every woman had a slightly different twist to how it should be done, but there were always principles that were true across the board. Vegetables stuffed with rice but no meat and cooked in olive oil were to be eaten cold; those stuffed with rice and meat and cooked in vegetable oil were to be eaten hot, for example. Coming from my American background of anything goes when it comes to cooking and eating, I found this fascinating. Some of my friends found it fascinating that I rarely cooked true American cuisine (whatever that is), but rather made my own bastardized versions of Chinese, Mexican, Italian, and Indian dishes on a fairly regular basis. Vegetables, typically prepared from fresh, dominate many of the Turkish meals. Of course, they are grown in Turkey and taste delicious. A cucumber or tomato in the States just doesn't taste the same. You will find vegetables on the table at breakfast (fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers), lunch, and dinner. Stewed vegetables, fresh salads, soups containing vegetables are all common fare. Meat is expensive, and so it is used more sparingly, often added into dishes to add flavor, but not a dominant part of the meal. This is a dish that we liked to order from a local cafeteria near the school where we worked. I cook it in olive oil, even though I was instructed to cook it in vegetable oil. Ingredients: 4 small or 2 large eggplants 2 Tbsp salt 1/2 cup olive oil 2 onions, chopped 1 lb ground beef or lamb, or a mixture (optional if you want a vegetarian meal) 3 Tbsp butter salt and pepper to taste 4 ripe tomatoes, skin seeded, and diced, or 2 cans diced tomatoes 1/2 cup parsley, chopped 3 green peppers, quartered Cut the stems off the eggplants and peel them lengthwise, leaving a strip of skin between peels. (They will appear striped.) Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Lay on baking sheets and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp of salt. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, then rinse off salt and drain in a colander. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. (Leave the meat out, obviously, to make this vegetarian.) Fry eggplant slices until soft and browned lightly on both sides. Remove from pan to a plate or platter. Set aside. In the same skillet, saute onions and meat in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, parsley, and 3 Tbsp of water. Place pepper strips on top. Add cooked eggplant back in. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Traditionally served with white rice, but for primal (grain free, lower carb) purposes, can be eaten like a stew from a bowl all on its own. Yummy served with a side of plain, full fat yogurt. and a fresh salad of diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, and parsley, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a dash of salt. Afiyet olsun! (Turkish for bon appetit!) We all know and love the shish kabob, right? Beef, chicken, shrimp, veggies - a staple of American summertime fare. It's a classic middle Eastern food that has made it to the mainstream of the American diet, much like hummus, pita bread, yogurt, and olives. (Yum - that list made me hungry...) When we moved to Turkey, we realized what shish kabob really is, and did we ever learn to appreciate it. Called "sis kebap" (the s's should have little commas hanging off the bottom, meaning that they say "sh" as opposed to plain old "sss"), the word sis refers to the stick that meat or vegetables is grilled on. It is available ubiquitously in a number of forms - chicken, ground beef or lamb, whole chunks of beef or lamb, with a bunch of vegetables also threaded on as desired. There was even a form which consisted of chunks of sucuk, a kielbasa-like sausage, alternated with blocks of cheese. We learned to love sis kebap, which was almost always served with plenty of grilled vegetables, some salad made of fresh vegetables, rice pilaf, and bread. Lots of bread. There were kebap joints aplenty throughout Istanbul, and it was a delicious and affordable way to eat when we were out and about. Until now, I felt that it was a recipe I would never be able to duplicate at home, but I am happy to report that I have found a marinade recipe that works really, really well. I used it on both beef and chicken with great results. Tonight, I will prepare this for friends. Alongside the grilled meat, I am going to serve a carrot-yogurt salad, "shepherd's" salad, and a rice made with tomatoes, butter, and onions, literally called "tomatoey rice" in Turkish. We'll skip the bread, making this a nice primal meal. All of the recipes are below. (To make kebap from ground meat, follow my Turkish meatballs recipe from another post, and simply press the meat mixture onto a skewer, then grill.) Kebap Marinade 1 cup plain, whole fat yogurt 4 Tbsp tomato paste 1 onion, grated 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cumin add black pepper, cayenne, and garlic as desired generous drizzle of olive oil Mix all ingredients together. Cut meat into bite-sized chunks and mix in with the marinade. Let sit at least 4 hours, longer if possible. Thread meat onto skewers and grill until cooked thoroughly. This amount of marinade is adequate for 4-6 pounds of meat. Carrot Salad 1 lb carrots, peeled and grated 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 cups plain, whole-fat yogurt 2-4 cloves crushed garlic 1. Saute grated carrots in olive oil over medium heat. Mix in sugar and salt. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the volume has decreased by about half. 2. Set aside and let cool. 3. In a bowl, mix together yogurt and garlic until smooth. Pour over grated carrots. 4. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible. Garnish with parsley. Shepherd's Salad 1 pound fresh tomatoes 1 big bunch fresh parsley 1-2 green onions or 1/2 of a red onion 1-2 green peppers 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup lemon juice 2-3 Tbsp olive oil 1. Chop all of the fresh veggies into small dices or pieces (this is very important). Put in a bowl all together. 2. In a small container, mix together the salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with the vegetables right before eating. This salad will be heavier on the parsley than we're accustomed to here, where parsley is mainly used as a garnish. Be generous with it - it's delicious. Also nice with other fresh herbs, such as fresh dill or mint, mixed in. Domatesli Pilavi (Tomatoey rice) 3 fresh tomatoes, chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked 4 cups water 1. Over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil in a saucepan. Add tomatoes, onion, and salt. Cook gently until onions are soft and tomatoes start to break down. 2. Add 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water (or bone broth, if you have it). Bring to a simmer. 3. Cover, turn down heat, and allow to cook until rice is done, 20-25 minutes. Okay, I know it sounds weird. But seriously. You have to try this. Known as "high mountain pasture" soup, this is a winter-time staple in Turkish cuisine. It's another one of those things that I turned my nose up at initially but eventually learned to love. Last winter, we had it at least twice a week. The original recipe calls for wheat flour, which I have found can be substituted for with potato starch or corn starch. Sometimes I skip the flours/starches altogether, and don't notice much of a difference. The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup of white rice, but I only throw in 1 or 2 tablespoons. We have found we prefer it with less. For you dairy-consuming vegetarians, substitute the bone stock with vegetable stock or water with a little butter and salt added.
Do not skip the final steps for garnish - they complete this soup! Ingredients 6 cups beef stock or chicken broth 1-2 Tbsp rice 3 Tbsp butter 2 cups yogurt (plain, whole fat) 1 Tbsp corn starch, potato starch, or wheat flour 2 egg yolks 1 tsp salt Garnish: 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup dried mint 1. Bring stock to boil. Add rice and butter. Simmer over low heat until rice is well cooked (20 minutes). 2. Mix yogurt, starch or flour, and egg yolks together in a bowl. Add salt. Stir into boiling broth and rice, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Soup should have a creamy consistency. 3. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add mint. Heat for 1 minute. 4. Ladle soup into a bowl, then drizzle butter/mint dressing over the top. Enjoy! With a nice salad or oven roasted veggies, makes a great, satisfying meal. Red lentils are called "mercimek" in Turkish. Turkish is phonetic, so it's easy to read. The c says "j", so the word above would be pronounced mer-ji-mek. Mercimek soup is found everywhere in Turkey. It is served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It can be found in fine restaurants, kebab joints, or fast food style restaurants. And it is yummy. It quickly became a favorite for all four of us. It was one of the first recipes that I learned how to make, thanks to my wonderful neighbors who were willing to teach me.
I love mercimek soup for its simplicity. It only has a few ingredients and can be ready to eat in under 30 minutes. It makes for a great vegetarian meal, which we generally have 2-3 nights a week. Served with bread or pizza and a salad, it is a satisfying meal. And like all soups, it is fantastic on a chilly night. Lentils were probably first cultivated in the Near East, between 9,000 and 13,500 years ago. On a primal or paleo eating plan, legumes are typically avoided, or at least minimized. This is because legumes contain factors called antinutrients, which can actually bind to the good nutrients in the food and keep it from being absorbed by the animal eating it. Trypsin inhibitors and phytates are two antinutrients found in lentils. (Proper soaking and cooking legumes does decrease their antinutrient content.) They are also higher in carbs than other protein sources, so for those eating low carbohydrate, lentils can be problematic. I have found it beneficial to keep lentils as an occasional part of my diet, but not a mainstay. Some of the good things found in lentils are folate, vitamin B1, and minerals such as magnesium. Mercimek soup is a fantastic place to use up or hide all sorts of leftover veggies. Once you get the basics down, you can adapt it in many ways. And, of course, there are dozens of different "correct" methods of preparation, depending on who you're talking to. Some recipes involve making a roux or using thickeners. My favorite is simpler than that, but it's always fun to get online and find/try different methods. If you're into that sort of thing. The boys beg for this soup. In Turkey, we had it at least once a week, often more than that. I find it more difficult to find red lentils here, and find I don't think to make it as often now that we're in the States. I have found them at a Middle Eastern store in Manchester, NH, and once in a while, they show up at major supermarkets. Ingredients: 2 Tbsp butter 1/2 onion, chopped 1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped 1 Tbsp tomato paste 1 cup red lentils 3 cups water or broth 1 tsp salt Optional: zucchini and/or potato, about 1 cup, chopped. Add 1/2 cup water for each addition cup of vegetable. 1. Soak lentils overnight if desired. (I usually skip this step.) 2. Heat the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and tomato paste. Gently saute for about 5 minutes. 3. Add the water or broth, lentils, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and let cook for 20-30 minutes. 4. Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon on top, and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper if you like spice. Breakfast in Turkey is not a meal - it is an event. In fact, in Turkish, you don't say you "ate" breakfast - you say you "did" breakfast. Like so many of our cross-cultural experiences in Turkey, my first instinct was usually (and I am not proud to say this...) annoyance. I would ask questions (internally) like Where are the things WE want? Why do they do it like THAT? And then, wouldn't you know, within a few months I was wondering why I had never tried this or that, or done it this way, or seen that before. (See my post on yogurt as an example.) Our first introduction to Turkish breakfasts came at a hotel we stayed at. We brought our 2 sleepy kids (ages 4 and 7 at the time) to the breakfast buffet in the morning and looked around. Where was the cereal? Where was the toast? Not an English muffin to be found. And WHAT was up with all of the vegetables, olives, and cheese? As we took the kids through the line to get food, we had trouble finding things they would eat. They did have a cold cereal option, but it was muesli, which is essentially raw oats that you pour milk over. No Cheerios. No hot oatmeal. No sweet, fruity yogurt. I can't remember what we found for them to eat - probably some white bread and fruit. We experimented at the hotel with eating cheese and olives, fresh tomato and cucumber slices, roasted red pepper strips, boiled eggs, white bread all together on the same plate. It was surprisingly good. I had never enjoyed olives while living here, but Turkish olives were amazing. The only coffee option was instant coffee, so we drank the tea. It all tasted really good together. I still wasn't sure that I liked the idea of crunchy vegetables at breakfast time, after years of eating bread or cereal products first thing in the morning, but I opened my mind (and mouth) to the possibility. And within 2 years, we would be preparing that very breakfast every morning for ourselves. In actuality, Turkish breakfast goes far beyond veggies and eggs. There is often a large selection of different breads, fresh butter, jams and jellies and honey, salads, sausages in various forms, and yogurt. And as always, the tea flows freely. Some of our best memories from Turkey involve "doing" breakfast with friends and neighbors. Let it be known that Turkish hospitality truly does rival anything you will ever experience. But I digress. Since I don't eat much fruit, and I don't eat many grains, I depend pretty heavily on vegetables in my diet. Vegetables and nuts are the main sources of carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals for me. I try to make vegetables the central part of my meal, with eggs, dairy, and meats being simply side dishes. I don't think I would have ever considered breakfast to be a time for vegetables if not for our time in Turkey, outside of the occasional veggie omelet. But in actuality, it's a great way to start the day. I skip the bread and have veggies instead. Here are a few of my favorite options for veggie-centric breakfasts: 1) Turkish breakfast: Fresh vegetable slices, white cheese (Turkish cheese can be found at international markets, but any type will do), marinated olives (cured black olives stored in a bath of olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano, and a bit of crushed red pepper), an egg or two. 2) Veggie Scramble (easier than an omelet): Gently saute onions, garlic, and finely diced vegetables of your choosing or grated zucchini. Stir up a few eggs and pour them over the sauteed vegetables; gently scramble. Sprinkle cheese over the top. 3) Substitute fruit juice with vegetable juice. Make your own or buy it prepared. Make sure there is no added sugar. 4) Leftovers! Re-heated stir frys, stews, and curries can make great breakfasts. 5) For breakfast on the go, try a boiled egg, raw vegetable slices, and a cheese stick. This can easily be packed and eaten in the car or at your desk at work. If you have other ideas or other favorite breakfasts involving vegetables, please share below! |
AuthorI'm Emily. I currently work in online education management, but I also have a Masters degree in Nutritional Sciences (my true passion). In addition, I am a mom, cook, avid reader, novice gardener, and enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities. On my blog, you will find articles on food, fitness, weight management, and eating issues. ALL recipes on my blog are gluten-free. Many are low-carbohydrate. Most are grain free. Enjoy! Categories
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