Tomato Pilaf (Domatesli Pilav-nimbuls)

One of the indispensable dishes of summer time dinner tables. It goes well with any kind of grilled meat and olive oil dishes. And as a bonus, it's one of the all time kid-favorite Turkish recipes. It was MY favorite as a kid. I could live on tomato rice, meatballs, and yogurt all summer. Last night I got the best compliment for my cooking ever: A five-year old, unfortunately not mine, told me my red rice was better than ice cream. Yes, that level of compliment!

serves 6-8

2 cups of rice (I find jasmine rice the closest to Turkish rice)
1 small onion, finely chopped, ~1/2 to 1 cup
3 tbsp olive oil or butter (if you use olive oil, you can have the rice cold the next day)
3-4 juicy medium to big size tomatoes, diced (hard to believe but in Turkey most people skin the tomatoes) or 1 can of petite diced tomato (when using canned tomatoes, I always put them in the processor for 5-10 seconds to make it smoother for my picky eaters)
1 tsp salt
a pinch of sugar (1/4 tsp or a little more)
1 tsp black pepper (optional)
3 3/4 cups of water or stock (vegetable or chicken)
finely chopped parsley to garnish

-According to the traditional Turkish style of making rice pilaf, rice is soaked in warm water for at least 20 minutes and then rinsed well to wash off the starchiness. Although I have been scolded by mom and various aunts over this issue, I do not soak or wash rice for no good reason other than laziness and lack of time.
-Saute onions in a steel pot with your preferred oil until soft. Don't let them brown.
-Add the tomatoes and sugar, and cook for 4-5 minutes until they acquire that dark cooked-tomato color.
-Add rice and stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add water or stock, salt, and pepper, if you're using any. Stir once. Turn the heat down to low to medium once it starts boiling.
-Cover and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes, until it absorbs the water or stock. You might want to stir it once after 10 minutes if the water stays on top and the bottom is getting cooked.
-Once it's cooked. Take the pot off the stove and cover the top with a paper towel or a clean kitchen cloth. Do not stir it. Replace the lid. Let sit covered for at least 10 minutes.
-Now you can stir or fluff it up to distribute the oil evenly that sat on the bottom. Sprinkle chopped parsley and serve hot.

Purslane with Tomato nimbuls(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 markets, or Mexican grocery stores, here is another purslane recipe. Purslane with tomato is another version of Purslane with Rice. Mid summer when farmers markets are flooded by ripe tomatoes, you just cannot help but cook anything with tomatoes. So when we crave a sour taste, we make Purslane with Rice, which is cooked with lemon juice, and when we can get enough tomatoes, we make purslane with tomato, which is juicier and good for soaking crusty bread. Fresh purslane, ripe tomatoes and garlic were what we got from the farmer's market this week.

See more purslane recipes














1 bunch or 1 lb purslane (verdolaga in Spanish), washed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced or minced
2 tomatoes, grated or petite diced (or 1 can petite diced tomato)
1/4 cup rice (soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutes)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar
salt
black pepper
1 cup hot water

-Heat olive oil on medium heat and saute onions.
-Add purslane, tomato, rice (that you soaked and rinsed), salt, sugar, pepper. Stir for a couple of minutes.
-Pour in water.
-Cook on low covered for 15-20 minutes until rice is cooked.
-Serve warm or cold.

Garbanzo Bean Pilaf nimbuls(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 Conqueror by Grand Vizier Mahmut Paşa to his guests. Mahmut Paşa's pilaf had both real, edible garbanzo beans and garbanzo beans made out of gold! Mahmut Paşa called the golden ones his "diş kirası," which literary translates as "tooth money." But don't think it was a compensation for broken teeth! In the past it was a tradition of wealthy families to give a feast for the poor and the wealthy alike during the month of Ramadan. The family would give a small gift to everyone who attended the fast breaking dinner (iftar) for kind-of renting their teeth to their hosts for the night. Apparently Mahmut Paşa offered the gift in the food in stead of handing it out.

Nowadays in Turkey you can eat this rich and tasty pilaf, usually along with pieces of chicken, at small sloppy restaurants during the day and on the street late at night, post-bar hours, and with no "tooth money."

1 cups rice
1/2 cup garbanzo beans (soaked over night and boiled the next day until cooked or use can garbanzo beans)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp butter (traditionally sheep's tail fat is used for this recipe, but we settle down for butter now)
2 cups of water
salt and pepper


























-Heat butter in a non-stick pot.
-Add onion and stir until soft.
-Add rice and garbanzo beans. Stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add water, salt, and pepper.
-Let it boil first and then turn it to low heat. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed. Do not stir the rice while cooking.
-Turn it off and cover the top of the pot with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Place lid on tightly. Let sit for ~10 minutes.
-Fluff and serve it as a main dish or as a side with meat.

Green Lentil Soup with Rice nimbuls(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, Green Lentil Soup with Rice is also a Central/Eastern Anatolia specialty. It is very simple, yet really delicious one, particularly with a crusty bread.

1 cup green lentils
1/4 cup rice
1 onion, finely chopped
6 cups of beef or vegetable stock
2 tbsp red pepper or tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper
dill

-Boil 1 cup lentils with 3 cups of water until cooked but firm. Rinse.
-Saute onion in a pot with olive oil until soft.
-Add pepper or tomato paste and stir for another minute. (If you cannot find red pepper paste at Middle Eastern stores, you can spice up your soup by adding 1 tsp of spicy Thai roasted pepper or any Asian pepper paste to tomato paste)
-Add vegetable or beef stock, green lentils, rice, pepper, and salt, and cook on medium to low until rice is cooked.
-Sprinkle dill before you serve.

Purslane with Rice nimbuls(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 healthy eating habits with a great emphasis on purslane (surprisingly rich in Omega 3 fatty acids), the weed frequented our tables in dishes and salads all summer long. If Dr. Oz's advice on healthy food triggered interest in purslane in Turkey, it also caused inflation in purslane prices. A couple of summers ago on questioning a sudden increase of purslane prices, just out of pure curiosity not by any reluctance to pay, I was almost scolded by a vendor at my hometown's farmer's market: "Mam, even Dr. Mehmet Öz appreciates purslane, why don't you?" I always have and especially do now here in the States, where it's relatively harder to find it. I do so much so that I can stop going to trendy organic farmer's market for fresh tomatoes and peppers and make a trip all the way to almost-out-of-town chaotic and dusty flea market with the hopes of finding "verdolaga" (that's what Mexicans call purslane and it seems like they enjoy it as much as Turks do); it's totally worth it. If I can find purslane seeds I wouldn't even mind turning the backyard into a purslane field. But for now I'm making a trip to the flea market every weekend.

If you cannot find purslane in your backyard or at the farmer's market, check out Mexican grocery stores or flea markets for 'verdolaga.'


























2 bunches or ~2 lb purslane (aka verdolaga, pigweed, hugweed, or pusley)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup rice
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
juice of half lemon
3/4 cup water


























-Wash purslane well and chop it into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. You don't need to discard the stems.
-Heat olive oil in a wide pot. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until soft.
-Add purslane/verdolaga. Stir a couple of times until wilted.
-Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and water.
-When it starts boiling, add rice and turn the heat down to low.
-Cover and simmer until rice is cooked.
-Serve warm or cold with garlicy yogurt (for garlicy yogurt use 1 clove of minced garlic per 1 cup of yogurt) on the side.


ps: if you are not very enthusiastic about green leafy vegetables, there's big chance you won't like purslance with its crunchy stems and tangy taste.

Rice Pudding with Gum Mastic nimbuls(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 milky desserts, ice cream (it's the best), and, naturally, chewing gum. Originally liquid, mastic gum is sold as hard small transculent lumps and melted in hot milk while making dessert. It can also be ground with mortar and pestle. This fragrant resin is cultivated from mastic trees that are native throughout the Mediterranean; however, the most famous ones come from Greek island of Chios. In the States, you can easily find Chios mastic gum, "tears of Chios" online, even through Amazon. I usually bring back a big bag of mastic gum when I visit Turkey.

Rice pudding is a traditional recipe that has different versions such as regular, baked, and with mastic gum.



























4 cups of milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 pieces of mastic gum

-Put rice and 2 cups of water in pot and cook until rice is soft. Drain.
-Put 3 cups of milk, rice, and salt in a pot and bring to a boil.
-Add sugar and keep cooking until rice gets really soft stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
-Mix well corn starch and remaining 1 cup of milk, and slowly stir in to the pudding along with mastic gum lumps. Cook until pudding thickens.
-Pour pudding into individual bowls or cups. (If you want baked pudding, make sure the bowls are oven safe.) If you do not want to bake your pudding, wait until pudding cools down and then put the bowls in the refrigerator.
-If you want baked pudding, place the bowls in a deep oven tray / dish. Fill the tray with water half way through the bowls.
-Broil them until golden brown on top. Let them cool and refrigerate.

Rice pudding is usually served with ground cinnamon on top. Try a scoop or two of ice cream on top on hot summer days.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers nimbuls(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 dishes. They can be served as the main dish for lunch. Also there's nothing like a cold delicious dolma as a side dish for dinner.

stuffs 8-10 medium size red bell peppers

1 cup white rice
2 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)
2 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of petite diced tomato
1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of red bell peppers after stuffing)
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp currants
1/2 tbsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp white sugar
salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive

optional1 tbsp basil flakes (it goes really well with the sweetness of red bell peppers)

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.
-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.
-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.
-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top parts of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.
-Place the dolmas in a pot. Pour water. Make sure water is 1 inch below the dolmas.
-Let it boil on high heat then turn it to medium and cook for 35-45 minutes.

-You can serve it hot, but olive oil dishes like dolmas taste better when they cool down and taste even better the next day.
-Try them with yogurt.

*If you end up with extra stuffing, you can either freeze it for another time or stuff whatever you have in the fridge: potato, zucchini, tomato, etc.

Eggplant Stew with Rice-nimbuls (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 from farmers market every week for over a month now. And I took the opportunity to show how Turks are crazy about eggplant! Cive is a great summer dish from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, Antalya. Cive is good warm or cold, with yogurt or bread. The main point is to make it with green tomatoes that give cive the desired sour taste.


























1 lb eggplant, peeled partially leaving lengthwise stripes and diced
2 medium onions, cut in thin half moons
10-12 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
3 green chilies, chopped
3 tomatoes (preferably green tomatoes for a sour taste), peeled and petite diced
3 tbsp rice
1/4 cup olive
1 tsp black pepper
salt
2 or 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil or mint OR t tbsp dry mint or basil



























-Heat oil in a pot. Add onion and garlic. Stir for 3-4 minutes.
-Add chopped chilies. Stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add tomato, eggplant, black pepper, salt. Stir one and do not stir again; otherwise eggplant will get mushy.
-Cover and cook on low-medium until vegetables will get juicy in the pot. Stir in rice nice and polite.
-Cover and cook on low for 30-40 minutes.
-Before you serve, sprinkle chopped basil or mint.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers-nimbuls (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 they're served cold; and are usually summer dishes. There are two ways to cook stuffed peppers with olive oil: on the stove and in the oven. In my family we like baked stuffed peppers. Here's another certified Turkish recipe from my mom.












2 lb small green bell peppers (approximately 18-20 peppers)

2 cups white rice

4 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)

3 tomatoes, grated

1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of bell peppers after stuffing)

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup currants

1 tbsp all spice

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely

1 tsp white sugar

salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup olive

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.

-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.

-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.

-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top part of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.

-Place the dolmas in an oven dish which is as tall as dolmas. Pour on top 2 cups of boiling water.

-First let it boil for 5 minutes on stove. Than, bake it in a preheated oven at 400F for 35-40 minutes until rice is cooked and tops are browned. Check them regularly if you don’t want to burn the tops.

-It’s better cold, but good when it’s hot, too.

Dill-Mint Pilaf-nimbuls (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, Marianna Yerasimos inform us about a 16th century pilaf recipe called Dane-i Yeşil which is made with spinach, mint, parsley, dill, celery stalks, etc.

My mom wasn't raised up in the palace kitchens, yet years ago she's come up with her own green pilaf recipe. She makes this pilaf whenever we have any kind of white fish for dinner. So within the family it's known as the fish pilaf.

serves 4

1 1/2 cups of white long grain rice
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
1/2 bunch green onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
2 tbsp fresh or dried mint
1 tbsp green peppercorn
1 tbsp pine nuts
salt
3 cups of water

-Heat oil in a pot. Stir onions, green onions, green peppercorns, and pine nuts. Cook until soft.
-Add rice and mint. Stir for 2-3 minutes.
-Add water (with most rice the ratio of rice to water is 1 to 2) and salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low until rice soaks the water (approximately 20 minutes)-Turn it off and stir half of dill. Cover the top of the pot with a paper towel or a clean kitchen towel. Place the lid on paper towel and let rice sit for at least 10 minutes before you serve.
-Scatter the rest of dill before you serve.

With all the herbs this recipes is for Kalyn's WHB which is hosted this week by Chris of Mele Cotte.

Zucchini with Rice-nimbuls (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. Since it's cooked with olive oil you can have it cold, too. I don't like to cover the flavor of dill and mint, so I don't use tomatoes or tomato paste. If you want some color in your zucchini dish, add 2 grated tomatoes or 1 can of petite diced tomato before zucchini. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes and then add zucchini and water. With rice, mint, and dill it appeals even to those who don't like zucchini.

5 medium size zucchinis, scraped and cut in 1/2 inch quarters
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, cut in quarters
1/3 cup white rice
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped or 2 tbsp dried mint flakes
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1 cup water
salt and pepper


























-Heat oil in a broad and shallow pot. Saute onion, carrot, and garlic until soft.
-Add zucchini and water.
-Wait until it starts boiling and then add rice (If you add rice before it boils, then rice turns mushy).
-Add salt, pepper, pepper flakes (optional), and mint.
-Cover and simmer on low until rice is cooked, approximately 25 minutes.
-Add dill after you turn it off.
-You can serve it warm or cold. It goes well with yogurt and fresh bread.

This summer recipe with fresh mint and dill is for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Anh of Food Lover's Journey.

Rice with Lentils-nimbuls (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.

1 1/2 cup white rice
1/2 cup green lentils
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil or butter
3 cups of water
salt

-Boil lentils with 3 cups of water on medium for 20-30 minutes or until they're cooked. Be careful not to overcook them. You don't want them mushy. When they're cooked, rinse them well and set aside.
-Put oil in a pot and stir onions for 10 minutes.
-Add rice and keep stirring for 3-4 minutes until rice turns into a translucent color. [I used 1 1/2 cups of rice, but you can use as much as you want. Just do not forget that the ratio of rice to water is always 1 to 2]
-Add water and salt. Bring to a boil then turn it to low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Then stir in lentils and cover again. Cook on low until rice soaks all the water (approximately 20 minutes).
-Turn it off and cover the top of the pot with a paper towel or a clean kitchen towel. Place the lid on paper towel and let rice sit for at least 10 minutes before you serve.
-Try it with yogurt.

Spinach with Yogurt-nimbuls (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 I never understood how Popeye's spinach that comes out of a can could be tasty or powerful, especially without yogurt. Here's my mom's recipe; almost her recipe, because I made a few moderations in years.

1 1/2 pound (app. 700 gr.) spinach, fresh, chopped into bite sizes- baby spinach would be good, too!
1 big onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tbsp tomato or pepper paste (or half/half)
2-3 tbsp olive oil or for a tastier spinach 3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup rice, definitely white
1/3 cup milk or yogurt (milk helps with that weird taste on your teeth after eating spinach) [half&half or even heavy cream could be nice and creamy as well]
1 cup hot water
1/2 tsp (or as much as you want) black pepper
salt
pepper flakes

-Heat the oil in a pot and add onion and garlic. Stir for 10 minutes or until they're cooked and add tomato/pepper paste. Stir on medium heat for an other 3-4 minutes.
-If it's fresh, add spinach in small batches, and as they wilt, keep adding more. Stir for approximately 10 minutes until spinach changes into a darker green.
-Add rice and cook stirring for a minute or two.
-Pour first milk,yogurt, half&half or whatever you decided to use, cook for a minute or two.
-Add hot water, black pepper and salt to your taste. (This spinach dish is great with some heat, so feel free to add pepper flakes)
-Cook on low heat until rice is cooked (approximately for 30 minutes).
-Serve with yogurt on the side. Spinach means nothing to me if I don't mix it with yogurt, yet again there are a lot of people who like it plain.

PS: To digress from the Turkish recipe towards an Indian touch, replace tomato/pepper paste with curry.

Turkish Rice Pudding-Baked-nimbuls (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 kitchen I skipped that ingredient. If you want to try the original taste, add 2-3 tsp rose water to milk.

1 lt (32 oz.) milk
1/2 cup white rice
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup corn flour or corn starch

-Wash the rice and boil it with 2 cups of water until water is soaked
-Put rice, milk, and sugar in a pot and stir on low. Keep stirring for 20-30 minutes more after it starts boiling.
-Mix corn starch with a little bit of water until the mixture is smooth. Then, add this mixture to the pot. Stir for 4-5 minutes.
-Now you need to decide whether you want to have regular sütlaç or baked one. If you want regular rice pudding, pour the pudding into bowls and serve cold with cinnamon sprinkled on top. However, if you want baked rice pudding, pick oven safe bowls, put put pudding in them, and then broil them until the top is brown, dark brown. Chill and serve.
-Another way to make baked rice pudding is to mix 2 tbsp of pudding (after you turn off the heat stove) with one egg yolk, and spread this mix lightly and evenly on the pudding after pouring them in bowls. If you broil sütlaç with the eggy mixture on top, you'll have a more flavorsome pudding.

See also Rice Pudding with Gum Mastic

Collard Greens Alaturka-nimbuls (Zeytinyağlı Kara Lahana)

Collard greens and chard along with corn and anchovy are the main requisites of the cuisine of the central and eastern part of the Black Sea region in Turkey. The use of corn in cooking is surprisingly higher in that region than it's in the South of US. The most popular collard greens dishes from the Black Sea region are collard greens soup and collard greens dolma--they use collard greens in stead of grape leaves and sometimes replace rice with cracked corn. It's delicious. This was my first attempt to cook collard greens in States so I chose an easier dish.

2 bunches of collard greens (2 bunches might seem like a lot, but they cook down)
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced or grated
1 tbsp pepper or tomato paste
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp crushed peppers
2 cups of water
salt

-Put a lot of water in a big pot and bring to a boil
-Cut the collard greens in two, lengthwise, and then chop them in approximately 1/2 inch pieces. Wash them well and boil them in the pot for 8-10 minutes and drain. You don't have to boil them beforehand; however, the leaves can be really though and so, hard to cook.
-Cook oil, onions, and garlic for 3-4 minutes and then add pepper/tomato paste. Stir for a minute and add tomatoes. Stir for 3-5 minutes
-Add collard greens and crushed peppers. Stir for another 5 minutes
-Add water and salt. Wait until it boils to add the rice, or the rice can be really mushy. Cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes. It's ready to eat when the rice is cooked
-Serve with yogurt

Rice à la Turque with Vermicelli-nimbuls(Tel Şehriyeli Pilav)

2 tbsp Olive/ sun flower/ corn oil, or butter (rice is best with butter)
Use a 2 to 1 ratio of water to rice. Although this works for almost any kind of rice (white, basmati, jasmine, brown), use only white rice with vermicelli.
1/4 cup vermicelli
hot water
salt

-Heat oil in pot and add vermicelli noodles. Stir until noodles are slightly brown. Try not to burn the noodles.
-Add rice, and keep stirring for another minute.
-Add hot water and salt. Bring to boil.
-Put the lid on and cook until rice soaks the water on low heat.
-Do not stir the rice while it's cooking; that will break the rice.
-Cook until the water is gone. Turn the heat off and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
-Open the lid and fluff the rice before you serve it.