Carrot and yoghurt dip

Carrots, very much like the bananas, are the fast food of the nature. They are tasty, easy to eat and are packed with an abundance of nutrition and vitamins.

We use them in salads and they accompany almost all the zeytinyaglilar (vegetables cooked in olive oil and served cold) but interestingly, they are mostly the supporting actors and hardly ever the stars of any dish in the Turkish cuisine. Yet, as there is almost a meze (appetiser) made from every ingredient possible in Turkey, there is also one made from carrots. 

I am sure everyone would have one or two carrots lying around aimlessly in their fridge at all times. This dip is a great last minute resort when you have unexpected guests, as it is not only very easy to make but also very healthy and tastes delicious.

Lentil Soup

There is nothing I like more than coming home to a big bowl of steaming hot soup in winter. As the days get shorter and a golden brown blanket of leaves cover the ground, I find myself craving the warm and familiar tastes of my childhood.

I used to come home from school all worn out from being stuck in a classroom all day to find my mother stirring a big pot of soup patiently over the stove. The smell of exciting ingredients would start to flirt with my nose even before I opened the front door. With each spoonful, my worries would start to melt away and the heaviness on my chest would be replaced by a warm and fuzzy feeling instead.

No Turkish dinner table is complete without a soup, especially in winter. We love our soups so much that sometimes we have soup even if it is the middle of summer. In all the Turkish restaurants, there would at least be "one soup of the day" all year round, rain, hail or shine.

Celeriac with olive oil and orange juice

One of my favourite winter vegetables is the good old celeriac. It is one of those love or hate vegetables for most kids in Turkey as the sharp taste and smell of the celeriac can be quite unappetizing for some. But not for this one.

In cold winter nights, my mother used to make etli kereviz, a celeriac, potato and meat stew cooked in a simple broth. She would then get a scoopful of the broth and mix it with lemon juice and one egg and stir it into the broth just before serving to give it that cloudy look and the creamy taste.

Zeytinyagli kereviz, a cold served dish made by cooking cubed pieces of celeriac, potatoes and carrots in olive oil and lemon juice with sauteed onions was also a regular in our house.