Gulevren taught us how to make this delicious salad during our Thanksgiving 2019 visit. The sweetness and softness of the beet pairs so well with the freshness and bitterness of the arugula. The redness of the beets is also striking against the green salad. It’s a match made in heaven! Ingredients: 1/2 onion, chopped […]
Deniz and I modified this recipe of tabouli from the Ziad bulgur package to meet our tastes. It has a lot less lemon than typical tabouli, which we like a lot, because it brings out the taste of all of the other ingredients! Yum! Ingredients: 1/2 c bulgur, medium fine #2 1 c tomatoes, finely […]
One day we were searching for a vegetarian recipe as usual, and we came across this leek & carrot recipe in a Turkish cookbook. It looked simple enough, but we weren’t sure if it was going to taste good. Since we have done this twice, we can say that we have no more doubts. This […]
This is a great snack and tea companion. Crunchy puff pastry filled with vegetarian sausage and cheese, baked for perfection. If you like borek, or spanakopita you will love this. Ingredients: 1 box of frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (includes 2 ready-to-bake sheets), thawed but still cool 1 t olive oil 6 oz crimini mushrooms, chopped […]
Vegetables in a cream sauce, there’s something so satisfying about the combination. The richness of the cream pairs so well with the crunch and healthiness of the vegetables. Deniz and I love to modify cream soup recipes to make them into creamy vegetable dishes. This creamy cauliflower recipe is one of our favorites, modified from Ree […]
I modified Food Network’s Roast kabocha squash with lemongrass cream soup recipe on a whim to make this amazing squash side dish. The flavors are so rich and decadent with the yummy squash taste still coming through. It’s so good it’s addictive. Ingredients: 1 large kabocha squash, green skin shaved off, seeds removed, and chopped into bite-sized pieces 1 […]
Deniz and I love indian food and palak paneer is one of those great flavorful and healthy dishes. We had a lot of extra ong choi in the garden and figured, why not try it with water spinach instead? We took Dassan’s Palak Paneer recipe and modified it slightly to make it our own. Here […]
During our Australia trip we had a chance to taste few unique vegetarian dishes and snacks. One memorable item was a big, red, deep-fried blob. When we ate it for the first time, we inquired more about it, and took note – because it was delicious! After fate took us to this unusual combination of deep-fried risotto […]
This is a light and healthy Turkish Salad that Gülevren taught us. In Taiwanese cuisine, green mung beans are always sweetened and used in dessert. It was cool to discover a way to make them into a salad. The diversity of vegetables in this refreshing dish makes it not only healthy, but also deep in flavor and […]
Gülevren also taught us to make this tart and creamy dill meze. It’s refreshing to the pallet, especially with rich and/or hot dishes. It’s full of flavorful and healthy veggies, a perfect Mediterranean dish. Ingredients: 1 potato, cut in half 4 small carrots, shredded 2 zucchini, shredded 2 T olive oil 2 t salt, or […]
We were blesssed to get a private cooking lesson from Gülevren last night. It was a unique treat watching superwoman. She cook 5 dishes for a 10 person dinner, while teaching us and watching the kids. Here’s her Ali Nazik Kebab dish, with its bold tangy meaty topping and cool, smooth eggplant base. Ingredients: Yogurt Eggplant […]
While visiting Turkey this year, we had the great honor of learning to cook from Deniz’ mom, ane Fatma Turkmen. She taught us how to make her mercimek kofte, lentil balls. The balls pack so much flavor, and are surprisingly easy to make. They’re the perfect snack size. I loved them so much, I ate them […]
Found this quinoa salad recipe on Food Network and made minor modifications to fit our taste. Has a lovely mildly tangy taste and fresh crunch texture. It’s super healthy, with the protein-heavy quinoa and nutrient dense vegetables. Makes fora great light side or snack. Ingredients: 6 c water 2 c quinoa, rinsed 2 Japanese cucumbers, cut […]
I’ve always wondered why there aren’t many savory pancake offerings. I love the texture of pancakes, but don’t much like sweet in the morning, especially cloying syrupy sweetness. I’d always wished pancakes were salty instead of sweet. So when I found Lail Hossain’s Bangladeshi Chapri recipe, I decided to try making it using pancake batter. The results were so delicious, we’ve made it many times, and […]
Deniz loves these bean sprouts, we’ve made them more than any other recipe on this blog. I’ve never been a big fan of bean sprouts, and even I like them. They’re simple to make, full of flavor, and very nutritious. This recipe is taken from Wei-Chuan’s Chinese Cuisine cookbook, with the seasoning amplified for our tastes. […]