Other Turkish Herbal Teas

Some other wonderful herbal teas that I became familiar with in Turkey and would like to recommend:

Ada Çayı (sage tea) -- very good for stomach upsets and colds
Kuşburnu Çayı (rose hips tea) -- high in vitamin C
Lemon/Mint Tea -- also good for stomach upsets

When I first moved to Turkey, whenever I had a sore throat or upset stomach, my Turkish mother-in-law would make me fresh lemon/mint tea. Just steep fresh mint in hot water, then add lemon juice and sweeten. She sweetened with sugar, but now I prefer to use stevia.

Lemon/mint tea is really wonderful whether you're sick or not. Fresh mint is preferable to dried.

Linden Flower Tea -- Ihlamur Çayı

One of my absolute favorite herbal teas from Turkey is linden flower tea. It's wonderful and warming on a winter day, or really any time of the year.

If you can find some good dried linden flowers, simply brew it up in a tea pot by adding to boiled water and steeping for 10-15 minutes. Linden Flower tea is so good that many people don't need to sweeten it, but if you do, just sweeten to taste with stevia.

One place you can find ihlamur tea / linden tea is at Tulumba.com an online Turkish grocery and market, but many herb stores or natural food stores will carry it as well.

Linden flower is reportedly good for calming nerves, soothing upset stomachs, and relieving cold-related coughs. To read more, check out this site or here (scroll down).

Carrot Salad -- Yoğurtlu Havuç Salatası

Here's a delightful Turkish carrot salad that's easy to make. It's a good, hearty salad to serve this time of year and is one of my family's favorites.

At home, we simply take about 3-4 large carrots, wash well, and run across a a grater, slicing them fine into a bowl. Then make a salad dressing of olive oil and lemon juice and toss along with a bit of salt. That's it. Simple, yet wonderful.

Here's another version, a bit more complicated and involves slight cooking, but also very good.

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots
• 1 cup yogurt (250 ml)
• 5 cloves garlic crushed with ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• a few mint leaves or 1 teaspoon dry mint
• a few black olives

Directions:
Scrape and wash carrots; cut into two. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes. They should be barely cooked and not soft. Drain and cool. Grate carrots into a bowl.

Place yogurt in another bowl. Add garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, oil. Mix well. Add yogurt mixture to grated carrots and mix.

Garnish with whole mint leaves or crushed dry mint. If desired, arrange a few black olives on top.

Serves 5.

This recipe is from The Delights of Turkish Cooking.