FENNEL WITH BLACK EYED BEANS AND MEAT

Delicious! 

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 su cups of black-eyed beans, soaked in water overnight

black-eyed beans

250 – 300 gr. Lambs meat, in small cubes

meat in cubes

1 fennel, washed and cubed

fennel cubed

1 onion, cubed

1 dessert spoon of tomato paste

2 – 3 spoons of olive oil

1 – 1.5 warm water

Salt 

Method:

1. Take the black-eyed beans  in the pressure water, add water just to cover the beans and cook them soft for 10 – 15 minutes in your pressure-cooker. When they are soft enough, drain.
2. Take the olive oil in a pan and heat. Add the onions and saute for two to three minutes.
3. Add the meat and saute until the meat releases some water and soaks the water back again.
4. Add the tomato paste and saute for 2 -3 minutes more.
5. Add the fennel, the black-eyed beans and the water and mix. Close the lid and cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes until the fennel gets soft. Add the salt. 

Step 3

fennel with black eyed beans and meat

 

BORANI

(Recipe in English is below. Borani tarifi için burayi tiklayin)

Borani is a popular dish with spinach beet or spinach in the Middle East, not only in Turkey. In Turkey, I know that people prepare Borani either with spinach or with spinach beet. Furthermore, there two different preparations that I know of. One of the preperation is quite simple: saute the onion that you chopped fine in the butter, chop the spinach beet (or the spinach), saute it with the onion, break an egg or two on it and serve it with yoghurt and garlic sauce on top. The other recipe is richer in ingredients however only uses the stem of the spinach beet and a bit more difficult to make. The recipe I am posting below is inspired by the more difficult one; but not entirely same with the authentic recipe. I believe that I made it a bit easier to prepare and healthier by skipping the frying part. I also added walnuts. 

Anyway, here’s the recipe. I hope you will like it!

Ingredients (serves 5 – 6)

1 bundle of spinach beet (or spinach); seperate the stem and the leaves, chop them fine

spinach beet

spinach beet, chopped

spinach beet stems

spinach beet stems, chopped

200 gr minced meat

1 medium to big onion, grated

onion, grated

2 spoons of bulgur

A handful of walnuts, ground (not as thin as powder though, you must have small bits still)

Water, just enough to fill a medium size pot (not entirely full: leaving enough space to boil and add the ingredients of course)

1 spoon of butter and a few drops of olive oil

100 gr chickpeas, boiled*

100 gr boiled chickpeas

100 gr black eye beans, boiled*

100 gr boiled black eyed beans

Salt and pepper to your liking

For sauce (totally optional): mix 5 – 6 spoons of strained yoghurt with a teeth of garlic that you crushed. Add salt to your liking. Spread it over your plate. Additionally, you can also melt butter and roast some ground red pepper in it (be careful not to burn it) and spread it over the yoghurt and garlic mixture on your plate. 

Method:

1. Place the bulgur, onion, minced meat, the salt and pepper in a bowl and knead well. Make small balls (the ideal size would be as big as grape) of the mixture; if you wetten your hand before you roll the mixture in your hand, it goes smoother without much sticking to your palms.
2. Take the water in a medium size pot and boil it. Add the bulgur balls to the boiling water and let it boil for about 10 minutes (first on high fire than on low). Skim off the scam.
3. Saute the stems of the spinach beet in butter and olive oil. They have to be soft.
4. Add the stems, the chickpeas, the black eyed beans to the bulgur balls and let it boil for 5 – 10 minutes.
5. Add the leaves that you chopped fine. Let it boil for 3 – 4 minutes if you want the leaves still a bit fresh. If not, then boil longer.
6. You can serve it with yoghurt with garlic sauce that you spread over your dish. 

Step 1 - make small meatballs

Step 3 - saute the stems of the spinach beet

Borani

* Soak the chickpeas and black eyed beans in water overnight. Boil them soft the day after.

BLACK-EYED BEANS SALAD

Bean stuff is not my thing however I am aware that I should consume beans as well. Black-eyed beans are not really the most popular type of pulse in Turkey. Borlotti beans and of course cannellini beans are well quite popular. Borlotti beans are consumed as main dish and as well as cold starter on a fish table. Cannellini beans are served as main dish accompanied with pilaf. Many people love cannellini beans and they consume it every week or every two weeks. 

As I don’t like pulses very much, I don’t cook them very often. Black-eyed peas I wanted to try in order to see if I’ll like it or not. Well, they are ok for me. They are pulses after all :D 

After a bit of research on black-eyed beans and how they are often prepared in Turkey, I came across with a few recipes from the west coast region of Turkey. I found a very interesting recipe but however it will have to be for some other time as I didn’t have some of the ingredients at home. Instead, I had to satisfy myself with this light black-eyed beans salad. I think it is very tasty, and it can be consumed as only-salad dinner or just as mezze. 

I think I might post the other very interesting recipe quite soon because I boiled enough black-eyed beans this time in order to stock in the deep freeze to have it ready for some other time soon. 

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1 glass of black-eyed beans, boiled and drained (soak the black-eyed beans overnight in cold water and the next day boil it)

black-eyed peas boiled

1 – 2 spring onions, chopped

1 small red onion, sliced

A handful of walnuts, chopped

1 – 2 spoons of pomegranate molasses, or lemon juice

1 – 2 spoons of olive oil

Half a bundle of parsley (or a bit less - you decide how green you want your salad), chopped

Method:  

Mix all the ingredients. 

black-eyed peas salad