Two Summer Salads
July 18th, 2008 | Category: Salad, Turkish Cuisine, Vegetarian

Come summer, I find a box full of organic produce on my desk every Monday morning. Big, bright red tomatoes that do smell and taste like tomatoes, tiny crunchy seedless cucumbers, crisp & sweet green peppers and a bunch of tender purslane. And how can I forget the dark purple eggplants that will perfume my kitchen all week long while they bake in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon?
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Mung Bean Salad
June 19th, 2008 | Category: Salad, Turkish Cuisine, Vegetarian

The above mung bean salad wasn’t actually included in the original “San Francisco on The Bosphorus” menu. Instead, I planned to prepare another traditional salad called Gavurdagi, which is usually served at kebab restaurants. A small Mexican restaurant on Columbus Street (crossing Chestnut) that we used to visit with colleagues for lunch on a regular basis was the inspiration. They would always bring a complimentary bowl of tortilla chips accompanied by three different salsas while we anxiously waited for our burritos. Gavurdagi salad is very similar to a Mexican salsa. Finely chopped cucumbers, tomatoes and onions suddenly transform into a delightful spicy salad with the addition of red pepper flakes, sumac, olive oil and pomegranate molasses. I always order it along with a lahmacun before my main course at a kebab restaurant.
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Celeriac with Green Apple and Orange
March 04th, 2008 | Category: Turkish Cuisine, Vegetarian

It may look like a giant wart, but once you get past the knobbly exterior you are greeted by a deliciously-perfumed flesh. Celeriac, often called the vegetable world’s ugly duckling, is a fragrant root vegetable that tastes like celery minus the fibrous texture. To me, it is actually much tastier than celery due to its amazing ability to absorb flavors. Everything you throw in the pot together with this vegetable ends up in the final bite.
There are many things you can do with celeriac: The French classic celerie remoulade, a hearty soup or a braised celeriac dish, to name a few. The recipe I am going to share is an adaptation of a classic Turkish dish.












































