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I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I am having with Around the World in Twelve Plates. It’s like travelling the world without even leaving your home and since we don’t have any plans to leave Calgary any time soon I’m just going to think of this series as a food staycation. This month Turkey was not so randomly chosen as our country because Gabby (The Food Girl in Town) WAS actually travelling there for the whole month of July. It wasn’t really a vacation though, because she was going to Cadir Hoyuk to work on an archaeolgical dig. Funny the things you learn about each other through blogger collaborations, I have a degree in Palaeontology but my digging experience was also archaeological in nature.The greatest thing, however, is that we both love adventurous cooking. I was excited to learn that there is a very easy, nutritious and absolutely delicious traditional soup that is eaten at the beginning of many meals in Turkey and even sometimes as breakfast. Ezo Gelin Corba is a spicy soup made with red lentils, bulgur wheat, spicy red pepper paste, and tomato paste. It is finished using traditional Turkish flavourings such the combination of dried mint and lemons. I made this soup the same day I made the full Turkish meal for dinner, so it was a pretty busy day but both my hubby and son really enjoyed the special soup for lunch that day.
The great thing about the meal I made is that you can make some of the dishes ahead of time. In fact, both the Tabbouleh and Piyaz salads are better when they’ve sat overnight in the fridge. With only a little searching on the internet I found a really informative and traditionally styled Turkish blog called Ozlem’s Turkish Table. It’s a bit difficult to navigate but if you know what recipes you are searching for you can just use the search feature. Ozlem’s blog contains a treasure trove of Turkish recipes and it’s worth checking out. I only included the recipe for the Piyaz Salad below. If you want to look up the other recipes I made, here are the links:
Tabbouleh here. I’m not actually sure if I used a recipe but this is a general, though more herb-y tabbouleh than the one I made for this post.
Sauteed carrots in olive oil and garlic yoghurt here.
Kadinbudu Kofte/Lady’s Thigh Meatballs here.
The Sautéed Carrot in garlic yoghurt and olive oil sauce is just so good. It’s amazing. It made the perfect bed for the Kadinbudu Kofte, or Lady’s Thigh Meatballs and it would be great slathered all over some traditional Turkish bread too. I don’t really know the back story of why anyone would want to name a meatball after a lady’s thigh but it probably has some sort of historical context. We just really enjoyed the flavour of the beef/lamb mixture. I can appreciate how these would be better coated in bread crumbs and fried but I just don’t do that. They worked out just fine being baked in my oven.
I was pretty happy to have found a great recipe base for one of my favourite Turkish salads. For a while I was pretty addicted to the delicious Piyaz sold at Anatolia Restaurant in the Crossroads Farmer’s Market. Their version has navy beans in it so I just added a cup of cooked beans to Ozlem’s recipe to adjust to my liking.
You might have noticed that all of these dishes have flat leaf parsley in them (except the soup). I had a huge amount growing in my garden in the back and ended up using it all for this meal! So, if you have an abundance of parsley this year, try cooking Turkish cuisine to use it all up.
If you make this Piyaz Salad recipe please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.
Piyaz Salad
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes; de-seeded, quartered and roughly chopped
- 1 red onion; halved and thinly sliced
- 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley; roughly chopped
- 1 cup canned navy beans
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons ground sumac
- ½ teaspoon paprika flakes – optional
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Rub and work sumac and the salt into the onion slices with your hands really well (this will soften the onions and help spices infuse in well).
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes, parsley and paprika flakes, combine well.
- Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and pour over the piyaz salad. Season with more salt (if needed) and freshly ground black pepper.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 383mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 11gSugar: 4gProtein: 8g
Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.
Wow Bernice, you are a powerhouse – this looks like an incredible meal! (I also used a recipe from Ozlem’s Turkish Table – what a great resource!)
It definitively helps that the salads are best made a day ahead of time! The soup was kind of a curious add-on and I’m so glad I did. It’s amazing and I will be making it again for sure.
OH MY GOD those all look so good, but the carrots underneath the kofte??? Holy you know what. Such an intriguing combination!!!
Definitely one of those A-HA moments. That carrot yoghurt is SO good!!
Many thanks visiting my blog and trying my recipes, so glad you enjoyed them – your photos look beautiful! Afiyet Olsun as we say in Turkish, (means may you be happy and healthy with this food you eat)
Thank you so much for popping by Ozlem! Your blog is so inspiring, you really have a lot of great Turkish recipes that appeal to me. The carrot garlic yoghurt was my favourite. Good luck on your cook book!