Tasting Turkish Culture

Ingredients: 1 lb green beans (fresh, frozen or canned) 3 tablespoons of oil / olive oil 1 medium size onion, finely chopped 1 medium size tomato / 3-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup warm water (optional) Directions: 1-Remove the ends of the beans and the string and slice them in half lengthwise (it is ready if you buy frozen one) 2-Peel the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces or use ready tomato source 3-Heat the oil in a medium-size pot over medium heat and cook the onion until golden brown 4-Add the tomato paste 5-Add the green beans, tomatoes / tomato sauce and salt 6-Water can be added at this point. Without water it is going to be tastier, but you need to add a little water later if the beans’ juice is all gone because the beans may burn 7-Close the lid and set the heat to medium 8-Cook the beans until they change in color to dark green and get soft (approximately for 30 minutes) 9-This di...

Ingredients 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced 1 large onion, cut into half-moons 4 T. butter 1 t. dried mint or basil 1 t. black pepper 1 t. red pepper 1 T. salt 1 c. water Directions 1-In a large pot, place the sliced potatoes and half-moon onions. 2-Add salt and combine well. 3-Add water, butter and spices. 4-Cook over medium heat until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Serve it warm. Afiyet olsun!

Ingredients, 1 lb leek 4 big carrot 1 cup of rice ( washed) 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp red pepper 1/2 salt 3 tbsp olive oil 8 cups water Direction, 1-Wash all the vegetables well and peel carrots. 2-Then, chop carrots and leeks into circle. Boil them in eight cups of water and filter in a bowl. 3- Take another pot and put the oil bottom and add leek, corrots, rice, spices, and salt in order. 4- Cook until rice get soft, which is approximately 15 minutes.  Serve as warm, with yogurt, or lemon juice . 

Ingredients 1/4 lb. ground beef 2 large zucchinis, peeled and diced 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced 1/2 cup rice, rinsed 1 medium onion, diced 2 tbsp tomato paste 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp red pepper 1/2 tsp black pepper 3 tbsp corn, vegetable or olive oil 3 cup water Directions; 1- In a pot, cook ground beef over medium heat. 2- As it is browning, add the diced onion, oil and tomato paste, and saute. 3-Stir in zucchini, carrots, and rice. Finally, add spices, salt and water, simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until rice is cooked. Serve with yogurt. Afiyet Olsun.

Ingredients 5 medium zucchini, finely diced 1 big onion, finely chopped 1 red bell pepper,diced 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced Bunch of parsley, diced 4 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 tbsp pepper paste (optional) Salt to taste Black pepper to taste Preparation 1- In a pot, saute chopped onion in olive oil until lightly brown. 2- Add diced red pepper and saute 3-4 min. more. Add tomato and pepper paste, diced zucchini and tomatoes one by one. 3- Put a lid on it and let it simmer until zucchini is done. 4-Add salt, pepper, and chopped parsley and stir to combine. Turn the heat off. Serve warm with yogurt and pilaf. Afiyet Olsun

Ingredients  1 lb. baby spinach leaves 1/2 cup rice 1 medium onion, chopped finely 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp red pepper 1 tbsp salt 2 tbsp oil ( corn, vegetable,or olive) 3 cup water Direction 1-Chop the onion into the very small pieces and saute with oil over medium heat. 2- Cut the baby spinach leaves into small pieces, and add to the sauteing onions. Stir well. Wait  until there is liquid in the pan, then stir in tomato paste and spices, and continue to cook for 2-3 min. 3-Finally, add rice and water. Cook until rice gets soft ( about 10 minutes ). Serve warm with yogurt. Afiyet Olsun!

Ingredients  3 eggs 3 zucchini, shredded 1 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup yogurt 2cup flour 1/2 bunch of dill, choped 1/2 bunch of scallion, diced 1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped salt, black pepper, red pepper  to taste  oil Directions; 1-Put shredded zucchini, parsley,dill and scallion into a large bowl. 2- Add eggs, flour,feta cheese, salt, peppers. 3-Mix all the ingredients. 4-Put some oil into a pan. ( not too much ) 5- Put 1 table spoonful of dough into pan and fry them. Serve it with yogurt or/and salad. Afiyet Olsun.