Artichoke Salad (Enginar Salatası)

Here is a light and tasty salad with one of the most work intensive vegetables. Artichokes taste wonderful, but cleaning out the outer, tough leaves to reach the edible part takes some time. This is one of the reasons why I choose not to cook with artichokes often. In addition, you buy two huge artichokes and end up with a little edible part. I do not purchase frozen or canned vegetables, so when I want to cook with artichokes I buy them fresh and go through the hassle of cleaning them and deciding which leaves are edible and which are not. Therefore, I have only cooked with artichokes only several times. Do you like cooking with fresh artichokes?


For Boiling Artichokes:

2 large artichokes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
For Salad Dressing:
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Fill a large pot with water. Add juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp salt in the water. In the mean time, wash and trim the artichokes. Remove the hard ends of the leaves and add the artichokes to the cold water so they do not take a brownish color.

Boil the artichokes for 30 minutes. Remove and cool. Remove the hard outer layers of the artichoke and select the softer parts of the leaves and the hearts. Place in a plate. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Enjoy with pasta.

Sweet Fried Dough (Lokma)

Time flies by so fast that sometimes we cannot keep track of everything going on in our lives. One of those things that I have neglected to keep track of is Turkish Food Passion’s 1st and 2nd anniversaries! In the first week of April 2008, Turkish Food Passion came to life one of those mornings when I used to get up at 6:00 a.m. every day even on the weekends. As much as I like sleeping, I sometimes feel like it is a waste of time (especially naps) since I feel that I could be doing something productive instead of sleeping. In any case, this is how my blog started. This certainly is not the reason for starting Turkish Food Passion however it was a big motivator as weekend mornings would be reserved for blogging before my husband would wake up late in the morning.

Despite the fact that I have been unmindful of Turkish Food Passion’s 1st anniversary and almost forgetting the 2nd anniversary which has past by a month, I am actually elated by what has developed into a rather large collection of Turkish recipes. It has gone much further than what I initially intended for and has gotten more attention than I expected, therefore I would like to thank all of my readers. Whether you leave me a comment, send me an e-mail or if you just follow quietly from the sidelines, thank you so much. My blog would not be here if it were not for you and your support. Also, I would like to thank my husband who has supported me from the beginning and has encouraged me to continue blogging when I was overwhelmed with my work schedule during certain times and tried to quit blogging a couple times.

Having said that, having published 152 posts on Turkish Food Passion, I am almost embarrassed by the fact that my repertoire of recipes includes only four dessert recipes! Yes, I have decided to focus on desserts for a while to widen the dessert recipe selection. In general I am not a big dessert (except baklava and a few other syrupy desserts of course) person, hence the procrastination on making desserts. If I do not have dessert for months, I would probably not ask for it, however when it is available I cannot stop eating it. Now that I have explained the reasons behind not making desserts often, I thought it is a good idea to celebrate Turkish Food Passion’s anniversary with a dessert recipe called ‘lokma’ which actually means ‘bite’.

Lokma is a bite-sized fried dough soaked in syrup that is prevalent throughout Turkey. This recipe was given to me by my lovely mother who almost made it for us when she was visiting this winter. Since we did not spend most of our time in the kitchen, I made sure to write down the recipe instead. Today being Mothers Day, I thought this is also another good occasion to publish this recipe. So, to all the moms in the world, happy Mothers Day!

Warning: These bite-sized pieces are addictive as they are crunchy and sweet. If you leave them out in the open, you will find yourself grabbing a few each time you pass by. It’s proven!


1 cup flour
½ tbsp corn starch
1 tsp dry yeast
1 cup water

For Syrup:

2.5 cups water
2.5 cups sugar
Juice of ½ lemon

For Frying:

2 cups canola oil

In a pot, add water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the lemon juice and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Sift the flour, corn starch and yeast. Either using a mixer or by a wooden spoon, knead the ingredients after adding water until the dough is runny.




Let it sit for 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Place dough in your hand and close hand. Squirt the dough from the top of your hand and with the tip of a greased dessert spoon remove the dough from hand and place in the hot oil. This step has to be completed very quickly so that all the lokmas cook around the same time. Repeat until the pan is full of small pieces of dough.


As they fry, turn them over until all sides are golden brown.


Remove from oil and place in cold syrup. Let it sit in cold syrup for 5-10 minutes. It goes well with either coffee or hot tea. Enjoy!

Fried Vegetables (Sebze Kızartması)

The summer is almost here and what is better than a meal with summer vegetables? This summer vegetable salad which is made frequently in our household in Turkey is filling and very tasty. Since this salad is made with fried vegetables, I rarely make it, but when I do, I prefer using olive oil. Sometimes, I broil the vegetables instead of frying however it tastes best when the veggies are fried. The only missing vegetable in this dish is green, long peppers which adds a slight hotness to the salad. Other vegetables can also be used such as cauliflower and okra. Enjoy with your choice of veggies.


2 medium eggplants
2 zucchinis
3 medium potatoes
3 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
¼ cup flat leaf parsley (chopped finely)
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp ground red pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
1 cup olive oil

Scrape off the skin of the zucchinis and peel the eggplants in stripes.

Cut the zucchinis lengthwise in half. Place each half flat bottom side down on a cutting board and slice.

Put the sliced zucchinis in a small bowl.

Cut the eggplants in half and follow the same process of slicing as the zucchinis.

Place in a separate bowl with cold water and a dash of salt to prevent discoloration.

Peel the potatoes and cut in half similar to the zucchinis and eggplants.

Place in a separate bowl with cold water in order to prevent them from turning brown.

Cut the tomatoes in quarters lengthwise and set aside.

Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large non-stick pan. In the mean time, prepare a large bowl with 5-6 folds of paper towel in it to absorb the oil.

Drain the eggplants and salt them. Add a batch of the eggplants to the pan. Turn over once they become soft or start to get a hint of brownish color. When they are slightly brownish on both sides, remove from pan and place on the bowl with paper towels.

Next, drain and salt the potatoes to the frying pan. Fry until the bottom side of the slices get a light brownish color. Turn over until the other sides of the potato take a golden color. Remove and add on top of the fried eggplants in the bowl.

Next, sprinkle salt to the zucchinis and fry until the zucchinis are soft and take a slight golden color. Add in the bowl with the potatoes and eggplants.

Place the tomato slices in the remaining oil and fry until the skin of the tomatoes separate from the flesh. Place in the bowl with the other vegetables.

Remove the paper towel carefully from the bowl. Sprinkle with ground red pepper. Add the chopped parsley and garlic. Squeeze the lemon and mix the ingredients in the bowl until the lemon, parsley, garlic and red pepper are integrated with the vegetables. Adjust salt according to taste. Serve with flat bread and plain, cold yogurt.

Green Beans with Chicken (Tavuklu Yeşil Fasülye)

This recipe is my third green bean recipe that has been posted on my blog. The previous two recipes were completely vegetarian which is how I usually prefer my green bean stew. Since I like change every once in a while, one day, I decided to make green bean stew with chicken. I will also make the beef version another time. All three versions are common in Turkish cuisine.

The green bean stew turned out amazing; we could not have enough of it. Therefore, I decided to post it on my blog and share it with you all.

This can be served hot with rice or bulgur pilaf or just with bread.



1 ½ lb green beans
2 large tomatoes or 4 medium tomatoes (peeled and diced)
1 small onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 chicken breasts with bone in cut in large pieces or 1 lb chicken wings
¼ cup olive oil
4 tsp salt
½ green pepper (bell pepper or cubanelle pepper) (sliced)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp red pepper paste
½ tsp coarse black pepper
3 cups water

Cut the ends of each green bean and slice in the middle without cutting through the end. The beans will split in two and stay attached at the bottom. Take the split beans that are attached at the bottom and cut diagonally around 1 ½ inch long. If you are in a hurry, cut the beans diagonally without slicing in the middle. When the beans are split in half, all the wonderful juices go inside them which will produce a delicious flavor.

Heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the chicken and cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Sprinkle half of the salt on the chicken. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onions are transparent. Put the green beans with the rest of the ingredients in the pot and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the green pepper and tomatoes to the pot. Dissolve the red pepper and tomato paste in water. Add to the pot. Stir. Throw in the rest of the salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook on medium heat for about 30-40 minutes. Then, lower heat and cook for another 30-40 minutes until the beans are soft. Serve warm with rice or bulgur pilaf.

Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick Omelet Combo Set Giveaway Winner

First of all, thank you to all of you who participated in the giveaway sponsored by CSN Stores. It would have been nice to have more than one winner, but unfortunately we only have one prize.

For the drawing, I used random.org and the winner is Rita T.! Congratulations to Rita! Enjoy making your stir-fry with the pans.

Rita, please contact me with your full name and address within the next 48 hours to receive your prize.

Thanks to CSN Stores and to the participants!

Spinach with Eggs (Yumurtalı Ispanak)

The combination of spinach and eggs can certainly delight your palates. I relished every single bite while eating this simple, yet delightful meal which holds a good standing in Turkish cuisine. My lovely mother graciously shared this recipe with me (as always) when I inquired about it. I personally had made spinach with eggs before, but never this good! I think I was leaving out the cumin and onions. This same recipe can also be prepared with the addition of ground meat which will be posted on my blog on another date. A piece of bread and yogurt can make a great accompaniment to this dish.

The spinach was purchased from the farmer’s market in Houston this weekend along with some other fresh and organic vegetables. I am working on a few more recipes involving the vegetables I bought at the farmer’s market. Now that I have some breathing room from work (for a while anyway), I look forward to documenting and sharing some more of my favorite, healthy and delicious recipes.

On another note, I would just like to remind those of you interested to enter my contest for the Non-stick Calphalon Omelette Set giveaway! A lucky winner will receive the prize! Check my previous post.

2 bunches spinach (approx. 2 lb with stems)
4 eggs
1 medium shallot (chopped)
1 small garlic clove (chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp cumin

Wash the spinach in cold water thoroughly. Discard the stems.

Chop the spinach roughly.

Heat olive oil in a medium non-stick pan. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the spinach in the pan. The spinach will wilt in the heat. When it starts to wilt, add the salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and cumin. Stir to integrate all the ingredients. The spinach should wilt and reduce in size. Break four eggs on top of the spinach. Sprinkle the top of the eggs with a pinch of salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cover for 3-4 minutes and continue to cook under medium heat. Remove cover and cook for another 2 minutes until most of the water evaporates. Serve with bread and yogurt.

CSN Stores Giveaway-Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick Omelet Combo Set

------CLOSED-----

Thanks to CSN Stores, it’s time for the giveaway I have been mentioning in my previous posts! I was ecstatic when I was contacted by CSN Stores recently on hosting a giveaway or a product review on my blog. Although, I must admit that it was not easy to decide whether I should review an item and KEEP it or host a giveaway by allowing my readers to receive a prize. Ultimately, I decided that I would be immensely gratified if my one of my readers received a nice item. If you have not heard about CSN Stores, they have 200 plus online stores which hold everything from bar stools to bedding, to furniture and anything you can think of for you and your home. Their selection of items is very impressive. I spent a couple hours on some of their websites when trying to decide which prize I should pick for my giveaway. Some of CSN Store’s websites are http://www.allmodern.com/, http://www.diningroomsdirect.com/, http://www.cookware.com/ and http://www.toysandgamesonline.com/. I am confident that you can find almost any type of item from one of their stores.

The giveaway item I decided on is the Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 10” and 12“ Omelet Combo Set since I have the exact ones in my kitchen for a few years now and I am very happy with them. I thought these pans can be useful for anyone spending time in the kitchen.




Here are the details for entering the giveaway contest:

To enter do one or more of the following: (Leave a separate comment for each entry):

1) Leave me a comment telling me that other than making omelets with these pans, what else can be cooked with them (1 entry).
2) Blog about this giveaway on your blog (3 entries) and leave me a link on your post about the giveaway in the comment section.
3) Join my facebook. If you are already on my facebook, just leave a comment telling me that (2 entries).
4) Announce my giveaway on your facebook and let me know (1 entry).
5) Subscribe to my feed. If you currently subscribe, just leave a comment telling me that (2 entries).
6) Follow me on Google Friend Connect. If you already follow me, just tell me so. (2 entries).
7) Place my blog’s link on your website (2 entries). If you already linked to my blog, just leave a comment telling me that.

The giveaway end date is Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 7:00 p.m. (Central Time). The winner will be selected by random.org and announced the next day. Unfortunately, the giveaway is ONLY open to my readers who reside in the U.S. or Canada. The winner will need to send me their full name and address within 48 hours in order to receive his/her prize. The prize will be directly shipped to the winner by CSN Stores.

Note: Please leave a separate comment for each entry. The more entries you have, the more chances you have of winning. All entries will be verified.