How to cook spinach?

Of course, there are many ways but this is one of my favourites! I like cooking lovely purslane in a similar way to this as well. We need to wait for it to come into season I’m afraid:)

1. Wash the spinach, leave in a bowl full of water and a bit of apple vinegar as it cleans the bacteria.
2. If you’re using brown rice, boil it in a pan with water for 10 minutes to soften it a bit.  If you’re using white rice, skip this step.
3. Peel and chop up a big onion.
4. Peel and chop 2 or 3 tomatoes (or do it the easy way – buy some chopped tomatoes).
5. Heat some olive oil in a pan for a bit, then add the onions.
6. When they turn a bit yellowish, add the tomatoes.
7. Then add the spinach and stir well. Don’t be scared to use the whole pack! It will look like too much, but it will reduce a lot.
8. Then add a half a mug of rice to this mixture. (I like it with a lot of rice, but it depends on your choice).
9. Then add 1 or 2 mugs of warm water depending on how thick the mixture is. Stir them altogether, the water level shouldn’t be too high above the spinach – just slightly over…
10. Cook it for 10 more minutes then serve with a drizzle of lemon juice and a bit of yoghurt on the side.
    

Courgette and peppers

Hello everybody!

After a long break, I am back with many recipes, but this time I won’t run away promise.

Now this is a very easy and healthy recipe. You can also keep thıs dısh in the fridge for few days so good for busy days at work. I will write alternative courgette recipes as it is one of the favorites for many vegetarians.

What do I need to buy?

2 or 3 courgettes depending on the size

2 medium size peppers (different colours look nice when you serve:)

onion

2- 3 cloves of garlic

olive oil

yoghurt

How do I cook it?

1. Chop the courgettes and peppers in cubes. Onions the same in another bowl.

2. Put the olive oil in the pan, and cook the finely chopped onions until they start turning yellowish. Do exactly the same with peppers.

3. Then add the courgettes, stir them altogether then let the courgettes leave and absorb their water back. You can pt the chopped garlic at this time. Simmer them for 15 minutes and after that your dinner is ready, serve it hot or cold with a spoonful of yoghurt and some toasted bread!

Green Beans and tomatoes (with olive oil)

Hello, hello!

Back again, with a classic summer recipe! I don`t know if it is cooked around other parts of the Mediterranean but I do know it is surely a dish you cook a lot whilst you are dealing with 40 degree Celsius heat in the Aegean. When it is hot, it is hard to eat heavy food – that’s why most Mediterranean countries have these lovely olive oil dishes.. So, what is our first lesson? We have to keep a nice bottle of olive oil in the kitchen:) ( I will tell you how to choose a good olive oil later)

Some info about fresh green beans: First of all, they have vitamins A, B, C, phosphate, potassium, iron and calcium. If you prepare green beans with olive oil you will get the most benefit of these.

Right, now how to choose the right green beans? In the supermarkets there is no choice, so go with the thin ones if you can find them, but If you have a farmers market, then you can ask for an easy to cook version.

If they are too hard, boil them for 10 – 15 mins before you start cooking.

What do I need to buy?

The ingredients are:

A pack of green beans (normally 300 gr or so)

1 onion

2 – 3 tomatoes (depending how tasty or how big they are)

3 – 4 cloves of garlic (depends if you like it)

1 tea spoon of salt

1 and a half tea spoons of sugar

5 – 6 spoons of olive oil

How do I cook it then?

1. Put the olive oil in the pan, (the hob should be high at this time) and add the finely chopped onions, play with them until they start turning yellowish.

2. Add your tomatoes with their juice, and let them relax. Then it is time to add the chopped garlic cloves.

3. Stir them altogether, then add the green beans, and stir them with other ingredients. Whilst doing this, boil some water and add it slowly to your pan. Keep in mind that the water should be slightly higher than the level of the green beans. Bring them to boil then lower the hob to medium.

4. Cook them for 15-20 mins (depending upon the hardness of the green beans) and check whether the green beans have softened.

If not, then add some water (but not too much, we don’t want it to taste too watery).

5. After they have cooked, put them on a plate or in a box and let them cool down in the fridge. The green beans are ready and you can eat them for the following three days unless you leave them outside..

Afiyet olsun !

a.,