Wild Black Rice (Siyah Pirinçli Pilav)

INGREDIENTS:

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cup black rice

1 cup barley

2 cups chopped mushroom

1 carrot, diced

4 1/2 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

zest of 1 lemon or lime

1/3 cup pine nuts

-Let wild rice sit in cold water for at least 15 minutes before cooking.

-Saute onion and carrot with butter for 5 minutes and then add mushroom. Stir until onion is soft.

-Add wild rice and barley and stir for a couple of minutes.

-Pour vegetable or chicken stock. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on low almost an hour or until water is soaked. If after an hour there's still some water, take the lid off and cook a little more.

-Roast pine nuts in a toaster oven on a non-stick frying pan. Let them cool off.

-When rice is cooked add parsley, lime/lemon zest, and pine nuts. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.

-Try it with plain yogurt on the side.

Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentils (Mercimekli Bulgur Pilavi)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup green lentils

1 cup coarse bulgur

5-6 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped

2-3 dried hot chilies, chopped

2 red or green chilies, chopped

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 tbsp tomato paste

4 tbsp olive oil

-Boil 1/2 cup green lentils with 3-4 cups of water until soft, approximately 15-20 minutes, and drain. (!/2 cup lentils will make 1 cup after boiled)

-Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onion. Stir for 5 minutes.

-Add sun dried tomatoes, hot chilies, and green peppers. Stir for 3-4 minutes and then add tomato paste. Stir for another 3 minutes.

-Add bulgur, lentils, 2 cups of hot water, and salt.

-Once it starts boiling, turn it all the way to low. Cover and cook until there's no more water left.

-Cover the top of the pot with paper towel or a clean kitchen towel. Seal with the lid and let sit at least for 10 minutes before you serve.

Bulgur Pilaf with Spinach and Fried Onions (Ispanaklı ve Kızarmış Soğanlı Bulgur Pilavı)

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 medium onion, halved and cut in thin half rounds

3 tbsp olive oil

1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed coarsely chopped (frozen spinach would be fine, too)

1 1/2 cup coarse bulgur

2 cups of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)

1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp allspice

1-2 tsp spicy crushed red pepper flakes

-Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and cook the onions on high-medium covered, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown.

-While onions are cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pot and add spinach to wilt approximately 5-7 minutes depending whether it's fresh or frozen.

-Once spinach is wilted, stir in bulgur, stock, salt, and spices. Cover and cook over low until it soaks all the stock or bulgur is tender.

-Remove bulgur from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. -Stir in the fried onions.

Stuffed Poblanos (Etli Poblano Dolması)

INGREDIENTS:

4 reasonable size poblano peppers

1/3 lb ground beef (if you want, you can use 1/2 lb ground meat)

1/4 cup rice

2 medium size onions, finely chopped

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1/2 dill, chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

2-3 tomatoes, petite diced

1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsp butter

1-1 1/2 cups hot water

1 tomato, sliced

-Wash peppers, cut the tops parts and clean inside.

-In a bowl mix well ground meat, rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, black pepper, salt, and diced tomatoes (and tomato paste if you like). It'll be better mixed if you use your hand.

-Stuff poblanos with the mix. Seal the top with a slice of tomato.

-Place them in a broad pot.

-Pour hot water on (make sure water is 1/2 inch below the poblanos)

-Cut butter into small pieces and place on top of poblanos.

-Cook on medium for 45-50 minutes.

-Stuffed peppers are good when served with yogurt on the side. And soak that juice with fresh bread!

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Kırmızı Biber Dolması)

INGREDIENTS:

stuffs 8-10 medium size red bell peppers
1 cup white rice

2 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)

2 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of petite diced tomato

1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of red bell peppers after stuffing)

2 tbsp pine nuts

2 tbsp currants

1/2 tbsp all spice

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp white sugarsalt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup olive
optional

1 tbsp basil flakes (it goes really well with the sweetness of red bell peppers)

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.

-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.

-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.

-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top parts of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.

-Place the dolmas in a pot. Pour water. Make sure water is 1 inch below the dolmas.

-Let it boil on high heat then turn it to medium and cook for 35-45 minutes.
-You can serve it hot, but olive oil dishes like dolmas taste better when they cool down and taste even better the next day.

-Try them with yogurt.*If you end up with extra stuffing, you can either freeze it for another time or stuff whatever you have in the fridge: potato, zucchini, tomato, etc.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Biber Dolma)

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb small green bell peppers (approximately 18-20 peppers)
2 cups white rice
4 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)
3 tomatoes, grated
1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of bell peppers after stuffing)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup currants
1 tbsp all spice
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely
1 tsp white sugar
salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup olive

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.
-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.
-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.
-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top part of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.
-Place the dolmas in an oven dish which is as tall as dolmas. Pour on top 2 cups of boiling water.
-First let it boil for 5 minutes on stove. Than, bake it in a preheated oven at 400F for 35-40 minutes until rice is cooked and tops are browned. Check them regularly if you don’t want to burn the tops.
-It’s better cold, but good when it’s hot, too.

Stuffed Grape Leaves with Groundmeat (Etli Yaprak Sarması)

makes 50-60 stuffed grape leaves

1/2 lb ground meat

1/3 cup white rice

2 medium size onions, grated or chopped finely in a processor

1 tsp black pepper salt

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup dill

1 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp olive oil or 1,5 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp butter

juice of 1/2 lemon

-If you have fresh grape leaves, boil water in a pot. Cook grape leaves ~1 minute in boiling water. Take out and let cool.

-If you are using jarred grape leaves, soak them in cold water for an hour; they tend to be salty.

-Put ground meat, rice, onion, black pepper, salt, parsley, dill, and 1,5 tbsp olive oil in a bowl.

-Dissolve 1 tbsp tomato paste with 3 tbsp hot water and pour this into the bowl.

-Mix all the ingredients.

-Save the broken, faulty leaves. Use them to cover the bottom of a pot with grape leaves to prevent them from burning.

-Take one leaf. Place it on a smooth surface the vein side up/shiny side down. Place a spoonful of stuffing at the bottom center of the leaf close to the stem. Fold in two sides first and then the bottom. Then roll it neatly like a cigar. Keep rolling until all the leaves are gone. If you still have stuffing, you can use it to stuff small bell peppers.

-Stack stuffed grape leaves in the pot tightly layer by layer.

-Add 1,5 tbsp olive oil or butter, juice of half lemon and water to barely cover the sarmas.

-Place a flat-ish plate on top of stuffed grape leaves so that they won't move around. Cover and cook on low for 35-45 minutes.

-Serve with crusty bread and yogurt.