Spinach Stem Salad (Ispanak Kökü Salatası)

After using spinach leaves in various dishes (you can find some here ) or boreks (and here ), saving the stems for other dishes and  salads ...

Pickled Beets (Pancar Turşusu)

Pickled beets is one of the easiest and, at the same time, the most delicious pickled vegetables of Turkish cuisine. It is considered one of...

Fava Bean and Pea Salad (İç Bakla ve Bezelye Salatası)

1 lb fresh fava beans in pod 1/2 lb fresh peas in pod 3 green onions, finely chopped ~1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves ~1/4 cup fine...

Green Peppers in Vinegar and Garlic Sauce (Sirkeli Biber)

I'm in Turkey and enjoying all the food I cannot find in the US and frequenting my hometown's twice-a-week farmers' market for f...

Beet Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Pancar Salatası)

A popular appetizer / meze for Turkish brandy, rakı and red meat, and a very common winter salad. 2 medium size beets 1 cup yogurt (better ...

Red Lentil Kofte / Mercimek Köftesi

This vegetarian kofte is one of the most popular appetizers of Turkish cuisine. 1 cup red lentil 1/2 cup fine bulgur 1/2 cup olive oil 2 cup...

Eggplant Papucaki (Patlıcan Papucaki)

This is a typical Aegean dish that you can find on both Turkish and Greek sides of the Aegean Sea. As much as the dish itself, I love its p...

Zucchini Fritters (Mücver)

Although I gave different versions of mücver recipes so far, I haven't posted "the" mücver recipe. In Turkey mücver is usual...

Celery Root Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Kereviz Salatası)

There are two common lies that Turkish moms tell their non-celery root liking kids. If celery root is cooked , the mom forces the dish as a ...

Purslane Tomato Salad (Pirpirim / Semizotu Piyazı)

I first had this purslane salad in Gaziantep , a city in southeastern Turkey at a kebap house. My childhood friend Özge, an archeologist by...

Zucchini Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Kabak Salatası)

Zucchini salad with yogurt is a favorite sumer time cold delicacy. It is served as a side dish at afternoon tea gatherings along with any ki...

Carrot Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Havuç Salatası)

Carrot salad with yogurt is one of the greatly respected rakı companions. Mainly for this reason, that it's highly associated with cons...

Baked Zucchini with Feta (Fırında Peynirli Kabak)

Except for white cheese that's used to stuff zucchini halves, this recipe doesn't seem very Turkish or very authentic Turkish. Howev...

Purslane Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Semizotu Salatası)

When I was 7 or 8 years old, purslane was introduced to me as one of the cousins of spinach, namely its aunt's daughter. Since I loved s...

Peppers with Cheese (Lorlu Biber)

Another great Thracian specialty! Just like menemen , peppers with cheese can also be served as a side dish, main dish, or a breakfast trea...

Thracian Roasted Eggplant Salad (Tunçilik)

Roasted eggplant salads are very common in Thrace, where I come from, during the summer. Thrace ( Trakya in Turkish) is the northwestern co...

Turkish Tabbouleh (Kısır)

Kısır is the Turkish and different version of a Mediterranean/Arabic dish called tabbouleh. Although there are many differences between th...

Baked Zucchini (Fırın Kabak)

This is a recipe my mom and I used to enjoy for lunch during hot summer days. I had forgot about the recipe, but fortunately my mom had not....

Antalya Bean Salad (Antalya Usulü Piyaz)

Piyaz is what we call bean salads in Turkey, but the term is actually Persian and means "onion." Piyaz is usually prepared with n...