Eggplant Feast

Zeytinyagli Patlican

When Summer is close, we start to cook different dishes from eggplants as we know that these are real eggplants not fake as in Winter time. And this one is our favorite. The best part of Spring and Summer for me is that I have more time in a day, it doesn’t quickly get dark here after March. Day time is longer than night time. I can’t take the advantage of open markets in Winter very often because generally when I leave work, it’s already dark and here open markets are “open” just during day time. But beginning from March, they are open longer and I enjoy shopping from open markets as I desire.

In Turkey open markets are not stable, they have certain places on each day of a week. The reason for this is to provide the same chance to all neighborhoods. As you know, everything is cheaper and more fresh in open markets, so people prefer shopping there. On Monday, the open market is in our neighborhood, close to our home and on Friday, it is close to the school I work. So today, after leaving school, on the way home, I popped round the open market and came home with several bags. I was a bit tired and I didn’t want to wait long for dinner, so when I saw some very fresh eggplants, I made up my mind. Although my hubby is a meat lover, he adores this eggplant dish and never refuses to eat it. Besides its hearty taste, the easiness of its preperation was my concern today.

And we had an unexpected guest for dinner. Our neighbor forgot her house keys and rang our bell just as we were sitting dinner table. She asked if she could wait until her husband came, we certainly welcomed her and put one more plate on the table. We had our dinner together and she said that she was so lucky to forget her keys as she had the chance of tasting and learning this quick eggplant dish.

Ingredients
-3 eggplants
-4 middle sized tomatoes, diced
-2 green peppers, chopped
-4 cloves garlic, sliced into two
-1 onion, chopped
-1/2 tbsp tomato paste(optional)
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1tsp salt
-1tsp black pepper
-4tbsp natural olive oil

Wash the eggplants and throw the leaves away. Do not cut the whole stems, leave a little piece of it. I didn’t peel them, but if you like, you can. Cut them in two from the middle horizantally. Then, grab the half with the stem and cut them  into four lengthwise until the stem. Do not cut them completely. As for the other half, you can cut them in finger shape. Wait these in a salty water for at least 15 minutes so that the bitterness of eggplants goes away.

Heat the oil in a pot and saute the chopped onion until golden. Drain the eggplants and add them in the pot. Cook them over medium heat until the eggplants change their color. Then add the paste, tomatoes, peppers and garlic. Sprinkle sugar, salt and black pepper and cover the pot. Cook them over low heat for about 40 minutes and do not open the cover until it’s done.

You can garnish it with some leaves of basil and if you serve a bowl of home made yogurt near it, it’s inevitable to feel in heaven.

The Perfect Couple

This was the first date of Miss Eggplant and Mr Cucumber. They came accross with each other in several open markets and covered markets before, and they were both impressed by each other. Eventually they could escape from the their stands and met at a solitary neighborhood. Miss Eggplant complimented Mr Cucumber about his cooling and skin beautifying effects while he flattered Miss Eggplant about her unforgettable taste when prepared with natural olive oil. He added “You are the best cure for skin cancer! We’ll make a perfect couple as we are both curative for skin.” They felt closer with these nice words and decided to go to a patisserie for a romantic chat. (drawing by mom)

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Purslane Salad

Semizotu Salatası

My favorite time of the year has started in Eskişehir, so I feel more energetic and happier when I go out as I see a lot of trees full of blooms. And believe me it’s really hard not to touch and smell them. Whenever I look at these trees, I feel that I’m in heaven and I’m refreshed. Yesterday was the bazaar day of our neighborhood and when I went there to fill a small shopping bag, I imediately realized how impossible it was. I definitely needed a big one. I love all kinds of greens and this time of year welcomes several kinds of greens. When I saw that almost all stands are in green, I started to imagine a lot of dishes from them. I generally make different kinds of borek, salad, appetizer, soup, and stew from different greens. Yesterday I bought a bunch of purslane, fresh basil, dill, mallow, lettuce, garden cress, chard, parsley, scallions, fresh nettle, fresh thyme, you see I bought almost everything green.

You see the sympathetic woman who grows these greens in her own garden in her village and comes to the city to sell her crops at bazaar. She was so friendly that when I asked her if I could take a photo, she nodded and immediately posed. We talked about these greens for a while, I asked what she cooked with these and learnt some new recipes from her. The thing I love about these open markets is this friendly chat I can have with vendors.

I was alone at lunch yesterday, my first choice was the purslane as I adore the savory taste of it, so I planned to make a purslane salad for a light lunch. Generally, I simply chop purslane, tomato and mix them. However, I added  some other greens this time, so you may also call it green salad. But I didn’t use all the greens in this salad as I’ll need them later for some other dishes.

Ingredients
-    Half bunch of purslane
-    A few leaves of fresh basil (the purple one in the picture)
-    2 scallions
-    1 tomato
-    A few leaves of dill
-    A few leaves of parsley
-    1 green pepper
-    2 tbsp boiled corn
-    A few pieces of cheese, sliced in cubes
-    1 lemon
-    2 tbsp olive oil
-    ½ tsp salt

Chop all the greens and tomato in big pieces in a bowl, if their leaves are big enough (like the basil leaves in my salad), don’t chop them, just put the leaves as they are. Add boiled corn, lemon juice and salt in it and mix. You may serve it on a plate or in a bowl. Just before serving, drizzle olive oil and put the cubes of cheese on it. If you don’t want a vegetarian salad, you may substitute cheese with cubes of boiled chicken breast.

This was my lunch, but you can also serve it as a salad near a kind of pasta or meat dishes.

Water in Need

It was too late for Mr. Pear to grow some greens in his yard, Spring has already come. He waited for a little rain all Winter, but as a result of the climate change all around the world, it didn’t rain enough in his village. He was so worried, and he couldn’t imagine a world without water and greens. Despite these obstacles, he wanted to take the risk and wanted help from his neighbor Mr. Cucumber for cultivation. They were ready even to give their own drinking water to their crops. All they wanted was to present some greens to humans at an open market. (drawing by mom)

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