Sautéed Spicy Beet Greens

Beet greens, stems and leaves, although usually discarded, are in fact quite healthy, sweet, and delicious when cooked in simple ways. There are a couple of different ways of cooking beet greens in Turkish cuisine. The following recipe is a simple one rice and olive oil.

We get beets, red or golden, from the csa farm box almost every week and absolutely love to use them to pickle or for salads and risottos. I save the greens for my lunch.  I love sauteing them a couple of different ways like this recipe, but this spicy one with jalapenos is my favorite. 

beet greens of 1 bunch red or golden beet, stems and leaves chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 or more jalapenos or any hot pepper of your liking, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Red pepper flakes    

-Heat olive oil in a pot.

-Add onion and cook on medium 3-4 minutes until soft.

-Add beet stems, jalapeno, and garlic. Sauté another 3 minutes.

-Add chopped leaves, salt and pepper and keep sauteing on low to medium for ~10 minutes. 

-Salt and pepper to taste. Add hot pepper flakes if you wish.

-Serve at room temperature or cold, preferably with yogurt on top, and baguette on the side. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and Tabasco sauce for more fun!

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Purslane with Rice (Pirinçli Semizotu)

Long before Dr Mehmet Öz, aka Dr. Oz, started to appear on morning shows on Turkish TV channels and regularly on Oprah to talk about healthy eating habits with a great emphasis on purslane (surprisingly rich in Omega 3 fatty acids), the weed frequented Turkish tables in dishes and salads all summer long. If Dr. Oz's advice on healthy food triggered interest in purslane in Turkey, it also caused inflation in purslane prices. A couple of summers ago on questioning a sudden increase of purslane prices, just out of pure curiosity not by any reluctance to pay, I was almost scolded by a vendor at my hometown's farmer's market back in Turkey: "Mam, even Dr. Mehmet Öz appreciates purslane, why don't you?" I always have and especially do now here in the States, where it's relatively harder to find it. We're lucky here in Northern California that purslane is available at farmer's markets.   Sometimes it is called purslane and sometimes it is called in its Spanish name "verdolaga."  Purslane is a weed and can easily grow anywhere under any condition. If you can get our hands on purslane seeds, do plant them and you won't regret. 


























~1 lb purslane (aka verdolaga)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp rice or bulgur or quinoa 
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
juice of half lemon
1/3 cup water

optional

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

or 2 tsp crushed spicy peppers 



-Wash purslane well and chop it into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. You don't need to discard the stems.
-Heat olive oil in a wide pot. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until soft, 3-4 minutes.

-If you're spicing your purslane up with mighty jalapenos or some other hot peppers add them now and cook for 1-2 minutes. 
-Add purslane/verdolaga. Stir a couple of times until wilted.
-Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and water.
-When it starts boiling, add rice (or whatever grain you're using but make sure it's something that wouldn't take too long to cook such as brown rice) and turn the heat down to low.
-Cover and simmer until rice is cooked.
-Serve warm or cold with garlicy yogurt (for garlicy yogurt mix 1 clove of minced garlic per 1 cup of yogurt with a dash of salt) on the side.


ps: if you are not very enthusiastic about green leafy vegetables, there's big chance you won't like purslane with its crunchy stems and tangy taste.

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Leeks in Olive Oil (Zeytinyağlı Pırasa)

In Turkish cuisine, most "pırasa" dishes, originally praso from Greek, are attributed to Albanian Turks. Not only leeks feature predominantly in Albanian immigrants' dishes, but also they make, hands down, the best leek dishes. The Albanian börek (phyllo pastry) with leeks is just to die for. Although leeks have a milder flavor with a sweet touch than its relatives onions and garlic, for some it is still quite overwhelming. So in Turkey you either love them or not at all, a well known fact that seems to have inspired Baba Zula, a Turkish alternative music band, to compose a song called pırasa the lyrics of which goes: "There are two different kinds of people in this world: those who love leeks, and those who don't.... those who don't know how to love leeks and then those who can love them" This is the recipe that turned me into one of those who know how to enjoy leeks!


for 4 people
4 regular leeks or 2 King leeks, really hard top dark green parts discarded, washed well and chopped in 1/3 inch rounds
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped in rounds or half moons
1/4 cup or a handful of rice
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2/3 - 1 cup hot water, to cover the leeks
1 tsp sugar
Salt

-Heat olive oil in a pot on medium and add onions, cook until soft but NOT brown. This is an olive oil dish and having browned onions in olive oil dishes changes the taste completely.
-Add carrots and sugar, stir for 3 more minutes
-Add leeks and stir for a couple of minutes until wilted
-Add rice and cook for a minute.
-Add lemon juice, salt and water to barely cover the leeks.
-Cover and cook on low heat until rice is cooked, approximately 20-25 minutes.
-Let the leeks cool down to room temperature in its own pot, lid closed.
-Transfer to a serving plate and serve at room temperature or cold.
-In Turkey 1=2 tbsp olive oils is scattered on top of the leeks on the serving plate to have a shinier look.

Usually when leeks are served, sliced lemons would be available on the table for extra drops of fresh lemon juice on top. It brings up the flavors beautifully. Eat with a nice loaf of bread. I love eating them mostly for lunch with yogurt on the side.

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Rolled Collard Green Leaves with Ground Meat (Etli Kara Lahana Sarması)

Although kara lahana [literally black cabbage in Turkish] collard greens are a staple in the American South, they are grown and enjoyed exclusively in the Northern part of Turkey, i.e., the Black Sea Region. Rolled collard green leaves is one of the most iconic dishes of the Black Sea cuisine competing with collard greens soup (recipe here). We’re getting collard greens in our CSA farm box almost every week and I am turning them into soups or rolls. Here’s a classic meaty rolled collard greens recipe.

serves 4-6

3 bunch collard greens

1 lb ground meat (beef or half beef + half lamb)

1 big onion, finely chopped

1 cup rice

2 tbsp tomato paste

½ cup grated tomato (~2 tomatoes)

1/3 to ½ cup chopped fresh dill

1 tsp (or less) black pepper

1 tsp paprika

Salt

1 bone (optional) [In Black Sea cuisine it is a must to cook the collard green rolls with a bone at the bottom of the pot; it adds extra flavor and deliciousness to the dish, but the dish is excellent without a bone as well)  

For the sauce

(You can adjust the amount of butter and oil, or whether you will use both or just one based on your taste. I prefer this sauce only with butter.)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tomato or pepper paste (spicy pastes go really well with the rolls)

2 tbsp grated tomato or tomato sauce

-Wash the collard green leaves. Cut the stems off and set aside; do not discard them.

-Bring water in a big pot to boil. Boil the collard green leaves 4-5 leaves at a time for 4 minutes. Leave in a colander until all leaves are boiled.

-While the collard green leaves are cooling off, mix well all the other ingredients in a bowl.

-Get a wide bottom, preferably stainless steel pot and place the cut off stems at the bottom. These will protect your precious rolls from getting stuck and burnt. (If you are using a bone, place it there as well.)

-Now the rolling part: put a leaf on a flat surface such as a cutting board, your counter, or a tray. Cut the leaf lengthwise into two and take out the middle stem.

-There are many ways of rolling these leaves such as rolling lengthwise, making triangle bundles, or using the whole leaf if small; however, I find rolling them by placing the stuffing on the long side more practical and easier.

- Place ~2 tbsp stuffing on the leaf. Do not over stuff them or they will come undone while cooking. Fold the sides and roll. Repeat until you stuffed all the leaves.

-Pour water over the rolls to barely cover them; the top parts should not be in water. [If, for some reason, you opt out of the sauce, you should add oil right now.]

-First bring to a boil and cook on low for 25-30 minutes.

-For the sauce: Heat the oil(s) in a pan. Once hot add paste and grated tomato. Cook for 3 minutes.

-Pour over the cooked rolls. The rolls go well with bread and yogurt on the side.

  

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