Sugar free , vegan cake

2 mashes bananas
1 zuchhini, grated
and ...
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Turkish mercimek köftesi / Red Lentil patties

Turkish mercimek köftesi

Red Lentil patties

Vegan

Ingredients

1 cup red lentil

1 cup bulgur (very thin cracked wheat, the one used to make Kisir)

3 cups water

½ cup olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

½ bunch green onions

½ bunch parsley, chopped

1 lemon juice

Spices to your taste: salt, black pepper, red pepper

optional: dill, garlic, cumin, pepper paste

To serve : lettuce and lemon

·       Wash lentils and boil in water until it almost soaks the water.
Once you turn it off, add bulgur & salt. Mix once and cover to let the bulgur soften

·       Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, sauté for 2-3 minutes

·       Add tomato paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add onion mixture to the lentil mixture.

·       Add parsley, green onion, spices and lemon juice to the lentils. Mix well.

·       Shape oval or round with hands

·       Place patties on lettuce leaves , serve with lemon.

·       Wrapping patties in a lettuce leaf is the recommended way to enjoy your mercimek kofte!

Afiyet olsun!

vegan cake

upon request of Rachel, here is  a really easy recipe for a healthy cake.


no eggs, no dairy, totally vegan AND no mixing as in normal cakes!


you can add cinnamon, nuts ,cconut etc for different flavors and bake as cupcakes or even use for a vegan birthday cake as well,
enjoy!


ingredients:
1 + 1 / 2 cups flour
Slightly more than 1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 pinch of salt
1 cup cold water
1 / 4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tsp vanilla 

how to make the vegan cake???
Mix sifted flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, salt and vanilla and stir in by a wide bowl.
Add the cold water, put the vegetable oil and vinegar in the middle of the flour mixture, Mix with a wooden spoon or wire whisk until blended totally.
Pour mixture into the cake pan ,bake in a preheated 350F oven until  toothpick test tells you it is ready to go!

Kisir -Turkish Bulgur Salad

It may sound assertive but so far I have not met anyone ,from any culture, country that did not like Kisir, bulgur salad. I won rewards by this this, at work ,Holiday potluck party and International cooking contest at the university. I make it to the International day celebration at my daughter's daycare, whenever I have friends over, and they all like and ask for the recipe...

It is easy to make, nutritious and yet really delicious...

You can think it is similar to tabbouleh, in a way yes since they both have bulgur in it, but they differ a lot. Tomato (And pepper paste if available) is the key thing!

This is a typical salad for tea time , goes great with borek (salty pastry with fillings especially feta cheese, picture below)

Ingredients for Kisir: 

• *I should mention I am not picky about the amount of ingredients, especially since this is a salad, you can add things as  much as you wish. 
• 1cups of bulgur (fine grained) - I recommend Turkish bulgur , you can find at your local Turkish store
• 1.5  cups of boiled water
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 5-6 chopped green onion
• 1 tbsp pepper paste and tomato paste each (2 tbsp tomato paste if no pepper paste) (Again, I recommend Turkish tomato paste, the taste any flavor is better then American tomato pastes)
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• 1 lemon juice
• 1/4 small iceberg (or another type of lettuce
• 1/3 tsp each of  black pepper , red peper and  cumin
• Red cabbage, corn,carrot, pickles, parsley, cucumber, tomato are common ingredients, add your favorite veggies as you wish, broccoli for instance

How to prepare kisir:

1- Mix bulgur, tomato and pepper paste and hot water, and cover with a lid and set aside for 30 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.

2- Prepare greens and veggies meanwhile.

3- Add olive oil, lemon, greens, spices , mix well and chill before you enjoy!

Kisir varies from region to region in Turkey:

*Regional recipes use pomegranate sauce in addition to lemon sauce for sour taste.  It is really hard to find in US. So far I could not find any satisfactory pomegranate sauce so gave up.

*At some regions,  the bulgur+water mixture is knead for 5-10 minutes before adding the ingredients. It has a different type , a different story :)

* Whenever I prepare kisir, I make extra so I can save some for lunch the other day.

AFIYET OLSUN!