broad beans, artichoke hearts and peas

Normally I cook this incredibly healthy dish without peas, but when a friend suggested it, I tried and actually they all go well together.
It is yet another Mediterranean dish mostly cooked around the Aegean Sea.

Ingredients:

250 gr artichoke hearts
200 gr broad beans
100 gr peas
a bunch of dill (be generous)
1 big size onion (I prefer to use spring onions, 4 – 5 of them, it is up to you)
1 – 2 spoonful of flour
olive oil
1 big lemon
1 desert spoonful of sugar
salt
yoghurt

Recipe:

1. Put all the vegetables in a bowl, pour 5 – 6 glasses of water, squeeze the lemon add the half of the juice into the bowl, then add some flour and mix. Let them rest for 5 – 10 minutes. The vegetables won’t get darker by doing this.
2. Chop the onions, cook them in a very little amount of water, then add the vegetables and water in the bowl, (you can add the used lemon skins as well) then add 2 – 3 spoonful of olive oil. 
3. Chop the dill then add it into the pan.
4. Cover the lid then bring it up to the boil  then simmer it down, add some sugar and salt.
5. If you use canned food, it should not take more than 15 minutes to cook, if frozen possibly half an hour. If totally from fresh, 40- 45 minutes maximum. Serve with yoghurt!

Enjoy!

Pasta with courgettes, dill and parmesan

This is something you can prepare very quickly, some sort of “eat and go but enjoy it” dish!

I think I used tricolore wholemeal pasta with this one, but any pasta would be ok I suppose. Pasta is the ultimate comfort food, I guess nobody would say no to that!

Now here are the ingredients:

Serves 2

200 – 250 gr pasta
50 gr parmesan
1 – 2 courgettes (chopped two cm thick)
1 -2 garlic cloves (crushed)
fresh dill
olive oil
plain yoghurt (side dish)

1. Heat the pan, add some olive oil then the garlic and the courgettes, keep the pan on the smallest hob, turn the courgettes occasionaly in order to avoid burning.
2. Whilst cooking the courgettes, boil some water, add the pasta, cook for about 7 – 8 minutes. (Add some salt to the water)
3. Chop the dill and grate the parmesan into different bowls.
4. Once the courgettes are a bit brownish, they are ready. (possibly8- 10 minutes.)
5. Put the pasta in bowls then the courgettes and parmesan and the dill at the top to serve. I like to eat it with some yoghurt as well.

Note: Alternatively you can roast the courgettes in an oven heated 180 degrees. Now, that’s the healthier option!

Enjoy!

Aubergine Casserole with parsley and peppers

This is a classic Ottoman dish as far as I know. An old story: if a Turkish girl did not learn how to cook aubergine in a 100 ways she should forget about ever getting married at once : )  I understand why when I cooked this dish, it is delicous! I cannot say that it is the healthiest dish in the world, as you fry the aubergines before you bake them.  But still it deserves to be a Sunday roast choice for vegetarians.

Serves 4

2 – 3 medium size aubergines
250g soya mince (or minced meat for meat lovers)
3 pointed green peppers (if not the red ones might work)
2 – 3 medium sized maris piper potatoes
1 medium sized onion
2 – 3 garlic cloves (crushed, or if you love the garlic taste just chop them finely.  If you are not a big fan then use ground garlic)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (since it is not the season I ended using the canned tomatoes but normally 3 medium size tomatoes would be enough. Alternatively use tomato paste and one tomato only)
Olive oil
Sunflower oil
Chopped parsley

How do we cook it?
1. Peel the aubergines in vertical stripes, then chop them into 2 cm thick chunks, then halve them again.
2. Fry them in sunflower oil untill they turn brown, then place them onto a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil.
3.  Boil the potatos
4. Cook the soya mince (or minced meat) in a pan, and add the chopped onion and peppers when it turns brownish.   Add two spoonfuls of tomato paste and one of chopped tomatoes (or two chopped tomatoes, but save one tomato for later).
5. Mash the potatoes then brush the casserole dish with oil (anything rectangular, round, glass or oven proof would work – it depends how you want to serve it) and pour the mashed potatoes evenly, as the bottom later of the dish.
6. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
7. Put the aubergine evenly over the potatoes then pour your mince, onion, and pepper mixture at the top then cook for about 15 – 20 minutes.
8. Serve with chopped parsley, rocket salad and some plain yoghurt as a side dish.
Enjoy!

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

New year! New recipes!

This is some recipe from River Cottage which I adapted slightly. I remember when I was a child my mother was giving me jerusalem artichokes as a snack, its taste is so vivid and very special too!

I think it had been years since I had it last, when I found them in the farmers market, I enjoyed the same memory. I am not sure the new generations will have the same opportunity like us, like picking olives from the trees, enjoying sunshine and so on, but I think we should try our best to achieve that. So I suggest you all to have a look at this link and apply if you feel like you can buy a land in the proposed land for another Heathrow terminal!

Click here for Greenpeace Campaign link

Now, how to cook jerusalem artichokes?

I really like them in Mediterranean way, marinated in olive oil with lemon juice and cold but soup is not bad at all!

Here are the ingredients:

4- 5 medium size jerusalem artichokes (peeled and chopped roughly)
2- 3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 medium size onion (diced)
1 big or two small leeks (chopped) I think you can use potatoes instead
double cream (I want to try plain yoghurt next time)
50 grams unsalted butter or equivalent olive oil
dill

How do we cook it?

1. Once you melt the butter add all the chopped vegetables and let them relax for about 15 minutes.
2. Add 5 standard glasses of or 1 litres of water. (If you like vegetable stock add it to the water)
3. Once you bring it to boil, simmer it down till the vegetables get really soft.
4. Put the soup in blender or liquidise.
5. Add 50 ml of double cream and chopped dill to serve.
For making caramelised butter
You can serve your soup with a sauce on top of it as in Turkish style, simply melt 20 grams of unsalted butter, add red chilli flakes or redpeppers with dried dill or dried mint. Be careful not to burn the sauce then pour it slowly over the soup just before serving in bowls.

Enjoy!

Photo by Cafemama

İzmir Köfte (meatfree)

This is a success story! Having just finished a plate full of this lovely dish, I am contemplating another one. And yet, it is meat free! Eureka! My recipe, my technique, I did it and am very proud of myself too. Since I became semi-vegetarian (no meat. just a bit of fish from time to time) a couple of years ago, this dish particularly was in my head. Soya mince or quorn mince are not necessarily better than meat, but as it is proven here, are good substitutes.

I think the combination of the spices is the secret.. Oh, and the well-known juice you get at the end which is unmissable.  (You can clean up this juice with some bread left in your plate afterwards!)

Now here we go:

Serves 4 – 6

250 grams of soya mince
3 -4 tomatoes (cut into eighths)
1 big or 2 medium size bell peppers (remove the seeds then chop them into long slices)
2 – 3 medium size potatoes (cut into eighths or more)
1 onion (grated nicely in a bowl)
1 egg
handful of parsley (chopped)
breadcrumbs (as much as the kofte dough needs)
two or three spoonfuls of tomato or pepper paste
black pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin, curry powder, salt, thyme

1. Slice the potatoes and keep them in a bowl full of water (this keeps the potatoes from going brown)
2. Take a medium sized salad bowl, put the soya mince, egg, chopped parsley, grated onion and spices, stir them and add the breadcrumbs until it makes a nice dough. Here. it is up to you, if it is too dry, wet it with a few spoons of water, if too soft then add more breadcrumbs.  You have to decide, I am afraid!
3. Heat the oven to 200ºC.
4. Make kofte balls from your dough, there should be approximately 15 pieces. I usually take a piece of dough, roll it in my palm, then press on it slightly.
5. Brush an oven dish (like a tray or glass casserole dish around 2 inches deep) with oil then place the potatoes, tomatoes, kofte balls and peppers onto it.
6. Dissolve the tomato or pepper paste in three glasses of water then pour over the oven dish. Drizzle with oil.
7. Cook in the oven till the sauce starts boiling then bring the oven down to 180º C or so.
8. Cook a little bit more, then your Izmir Kofte is ready, enjoy!