Grated Beetroot and Yogurt Salad

I've devloped a real love-affair with beets since discovering Sally Fallon's Beet Kvass recipe and learning how nutritious and delicious beets can be. Here's a great recipe for an unusual salad using two fabulously healthy foods: beets and yogurt. Recipe is from Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes by Ghillie Başan.

With its beneficial nutritional properties, yogurt is used frequently in meze dishes. It makes a tasty dip combined with mashed or grated ingredients, and mixed with a little vinegar or lemon juice it is good as a sauce over grilled or fried vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 4 raw beetroot (beets), washed and trimmed
  
• 500 g / 1 ¼ lb / 2 ¼ cups thick and creamy natural (plain) yogurt
  
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• sea salt and ground black pepper
  
• a few fresh mint leaves, shredded, to garnish

Serves 4

Directions:

1) Boil the beetroot in plenty of water for 35 - 40 minutes until tender, but not mushy or soft. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then peel off the skins and grate the beetroot on to a plate. Squeeze it lightly with your fingers to drain off excess water.

2) In a bowl, beat the yogurt with the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add the beetroot, reserving a little to garnish the top, and mix well. Garnish with mint leaves.

Notes:
Warm Beetroot Salad: In some households, the beetroot is diced and stir-fried with coriander seeds, sugar and a splash of apple vinegar. Then it is served warm with the cooling garlic-flavoured yogurt and garnished with dill.

A Carrot Version: Cut four carrots into chunks and steam for about 15 minutes, until they are tender but still with some bite, then grate and mix with the yogurt and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with mint or dill.

Per Portion: Energy 95 kcal / 403 kj; Protein 7.8 g; Carbohydrate 14/4 g, of which sugars 13 g; Fat 1.4 g, of which saturates 0.6 g; Cholesterol 2 mg; Calcium 249 mg; Fibre 1/3 g; Sodium 137 mg

Kisir -- Tabbouleh

Kisir, also known as tabouleh or bulgur salad, is a wonderfully delicious mix of green salad and bulgur wheat. I love making kisir whenever I need to carry a dish to a friend's house or potluck. This is a great recipe that's easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fine bulgur
• 1 onion
• 7-8 green onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 bunch parsley and dill
• 4-5 banana peppers
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp red pepper or 1 tsp pepper paste
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Sort and wash bulgur. Cover bulgur with 1-2 cups of boiled water and let absorb.
2. Clean and chop green onion, parsley, kill, tomatoes, and pepper into small pieces.
3. Chop the dry onion and mix it well with the red pepper. Mix it with the raised bulgur.
4. Add the salad to the bulgur, then add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix well.
5. Serve on a plate of fresh and crisp lettuce.

This recipe is translated from Bereketli Olsun by Gonul Candas.

Eggplant Salad

This recipe is from my good friend, and fabulous Turkish cook, Umit. She served this when we visited her recently, and it was thoroughly delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant
  
• 1 small bell pepper (red, green or yellow)
  
• 1 large tomato
  
• 2 small onions
  
• 1/2 bunch parsley
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• juice of 1 lemon
  
• 2 Tbs olive oil
  
• salt, pepper

Directions:

Wash the eggplant and prick all over with a fork. Place on a grill and cook evenly by turning occasionally in the oven. When the skin of the eggplant looks quite burnt, test it with fork and make sure the flesh is soft right through.

Let eggplant cool down while preparing the others ingredients. Cut tomato, bell pepper, onion, and parsley into small pieces> Add crushed garlic and mix. Slice the eggplant and add to others. Season with salt pepper, oil and fresh lemon juice.

Purslane Salad with Yogurt--Semizotu

I first discovered purslane when I lived in Turkey and fell in love with it as a salad green immediately. I especially love it fixed in this recipe.

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea), is usually regarded as a common garden weed today, but it has been cultivated as a succulent food crop for more than 2000 years in India, Persia, and the Middle East. From these areas the plant spread to Europe during the sixteenth century where it gained in popularity and was thought to ward off evil spirits.

Purslane is high in vitamin C, and, when eaten raw, has diuretic properties. An excellent crunch salad plant, its cooling leaves blend well with hotter-flavored salad herbs.

You can find purslane growing wild if you are familiar with the plant, or many health and specialty groceries carry it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (300 g.) purslane
  
• 1 3/4 cups (440 g.) plain yogurt
  
• 2 cloves (6 g.) garlic
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g.) sea salt

Directions:

Wash purslane thoroughly; drain. Chop coarsely.

Combine with yogurt, salt and crushed garlic.

Chill and serve.

Cultural Notes:

This salad is prepared in Mediterranean and Aegean regions. Wild purslane "tohmeken" is used instead of cultivated.

This recipe is from Samples from Turkish Cuisine published by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, 1993.

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.