Purslane with Tomato (Domatesli Semizotu)

Purslane season is officially on! For those who have purslane growing in their yards or who can find it at the farmer's markets, flea ma...

Garbanzo Bean Pilaf (Nohutlu Pilav)

Now a highly common and popular street food, garbanzo bean pilaf ( nohutlu pilav ), was a special dish served during the reign of Mehmet the...

Green Lentil Soup with Rice (Pirinçli Yeşil Mercimek Çorbası)

Fall is here and I'm as excited about the turning leaves as I am about making soups again. As most of the Turkish green lentil soups, G...

Purslane with Rice (Pirinçli Semizotu)

Long before Dr Mehmet Öz, aka Dr. Oz, started to appear on morning shows on Turkish TV channels and regularly on Oprah Show to talk about h...

Rice Pudding with Gum Mastic (Damla Sakızlı Sütlaç)

When it comes to Turkish milky desserts, a considerable number of people in Turkey prefer mastic gum flavor. In Turkey mastic gum is used in...

Tomato Pilaf (Domatesli Pilav)

One of the indispensable dishes of summer time dinner tables. It goes well with any kind of grilled meat and olive oil dishes . serves 6 2 c...

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Kırmızı Biber Dolması)

It's almost summer and I cannot help but cook summer dishes. Dolmas simmered in olive oil, i.e. vegetarian dolmas, are perfect summer di...

Eggplant Stew with Rice (Patlıcanlı Cive)

I'm still posting eggplant recipes, and I still have more, because eggplants and zucchinis are the main things we've been getting fr...

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Biber Dolma)

Another great traditional olive oil dish recipe: Stuffed peppers with olive oil. Olive oil dishes are cooked only with olive oil; best when...

Dill-Mint Pilaf (Dereotlu ve Naneli Pilav)

Cooking rice with green vegetables and herbs is not alien to Turkish cuisine. In her wonderful book, 500 Hundred Years of Ottoman Cuisine ,...

Zucchini with Rice (Pirinçli Kabak)

Light zucchini dishes are the best for hot summer days. This one has been one of my favorites with yogurt on the side since my childhood. Si...

Rice with Lentils (Mercimekli Pilav)

This is a recipe that I and my collage roommates made and enjoyed a lot of times in our dorm kitchen. This was the tastiest thing we cooked....

Spinach with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Ispanak)

Most of my friends when we were kids ate spinach only because of Popeye. I did not. I ate spinach because my mom made delicious spinach and ...

Turkish Rice Pudding-Baked (Fırın Sütlaç)

Sütlaç is a light dessert originated in Ottoman cuisine. The rumor goes that it was flavored with rose water in palace kitchens, but in my k...