Spinach Stem Salad (Ispanak Kökü Salatası)

After using spinach leaves in various dishes (you can find some here) or boreks (and here), saving the stems for other dishes and  salads is very common. There are many ways of cooking with spinach stems and here I will be sharing the most common--and healthy, if you ask me--two ways of making salads. Leaves? I used them in a not-so-healthy way and made spinach mushroom etouffee, inspired by the menu of YATS restaurant in Indy!  


Salad #1 Spinach stem salad with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic

spinach stems (use as many bunches or pounds as you wish or you have in hand)
olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
lemon juice or vinegar of your choice
salt

-Trim the stems so that they will remain intact.
-Wash the stems really really well.
-Steam stems in a basket over boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted but not soggy. Blanch in cold water. Rinse.
-Place them on a plate and sprinkle with minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, and salt. Dress to your taste



Salad #2 Spinach stem salad with yogurt

2 bunches of spinach stems (or use as many bunches or pounds as you wish or you have in hand)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1-2 tsp olive oil
salt
pepper

-Trim the stems so that they will remain intact.
-Wash the stems really really well.
-Steam stems in a basket over boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted but not soggy. Blanch in cold water. Rinse.
-In a broad pan heat olive oil.
-Add onion and garlic and stir until soft for ~5 minutes.
-Add steamed stems and stir until heated for 1-2 minutes.
-Add salt and pepper.
-Serve with a gallop of yogurt, or even better with garlicy yougurt (1 small clove of garlic minced well and mixed with yogurt) and a slice of crusty bread. Perfect lunch!

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Pickled Beets (Pancar Turşusu)

Pickled beets is one of the easiest and, at the same time, the most delicious pickled vegetables of Turkish cuisine. It is considered one of the indispensable mezes of the Turkish raki tables. It is also good with hearty winter dishes such as legumes.


1 bunch beets = ~2lb beets = 3-4 medium size beets
1 tsp salt
11/2  tsp sugar
1/2 cup vinegar (red wine, apple, etc)
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced

-Wear a dark color shirt or a very old one and put on an apron, beet stain is "the" toughest of all.
-Cut the tops and bottoms of beets and wash them really, really well.
-Place in a pot, cover with water, and cook until soft. (if a knife can go though them easily, then they're cooked.) This may take more or less 30-40 minutes. If you prefer a pressure cooker, set the timer for 15 minutes.
-Once they cool down, peel the beets (which is super easy once they're cooked) and preserve the cooking juice.
-Cut the beets the way you like; you can cube (as in the picture); slice; or halve them.
-Layer beets, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a glass jar. (To give you an idea three medium size cubed beets fit in an Atlas jar.)
-Fill the jar with preserved beet juice. Close tight and refrigerate.
-It's ready to eat the next day; no need to wait for longer.

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Vegetarian Stuffed Tomatoes (Zeytinyağlı Domates Dolması)

In Turkey end-of-summer tomato bounty usually means time to can or jar tomato sauces or to make tomato paste. Unfortunately I am too lazy for any of those. I decided to say good bye to the summer and to the dearest tomatoes that I tremendously enjoyed all summer long with a nice dish. Stuffing tomatoes with rice or ground meat, although not as common as peppers or zucchinis, is common. Using bulgur rather than rice for stuffing is more popular in the central and eastern Turkey. Inspired by dolmas stuffed with bulgur, I tried using quinoa for my tomatoes which makes this recipe an authentic "almost" Turkish one.

For dolma it is important to pick firmer tomatoes. I prefer roma tomatoes for stuffing.


~15 medium size firm tomatoes
1 cup quinoa
3 medium size onions, finely chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil (I never hold back olive oil)
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp white granulated sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2-3 sweet peppers (any color), finely chopped
juice of half lemon
salt


-Wash the tomatoes and remove the tops to use later as a lid. Use a spoon or a melon scoop to remove the seeds and inside flesh. Save the flesh. Put the flesh in a food processor or dice them really small.
-In a big frying pan heat half of the olive oil.
-Add sugar, onion, pine nuts, and peppers, and saute until onions are tender.
-Add quinoa, stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add 1 cup of pureed tomato from the inside flesh. Cook stirring for 2-3 minutes.
-Add 1 cup of hot water. Cover and simmer until the water is soaked. Turn the heat off.
-Add the remaining ingredients: black pepper, all spice, basil, parsley, lemon juice, and salt. Mix well.
-Once it cools down start stuffing tomatoes with this mix. Do not over stuff them. Leave a little bit of room for quinoa to grow :) Place the tops that you cut earlier on top. That top will keep your dolmas moist. (If you are out of tomatoes and still have more stuffing try zucchinis or potatoes, or just eat the stuffing it's delicious.)
-Place the tomato dolmas in a somewhat deep (to prevent mess) oven proof pot or dish facing up.
-Pour the remaining olive oil and 1 cup or a little more hot water to cover almost half way up the tomatoes.

Now you can either cook them on the stove or bake them in the oven. I honestly think baked dolmas beat the stove cooked ones but it's up to you.

For cooking on the stove:
-Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

For baking:
-First bring to a boil on the stove and then bake for 40-50 minutes at  400 F. Do not cover.

Reminders: It's always a good idea to check the amount of water while cooking/baking. If the water is gone before the cooking is over, add hot water.

Let dolmas cool in their pots. Wait until they are luke warm before serving. This is an olive oil dish and like other olive oil dishes it's best when it's cold and even better the next day.

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