Mediterranean Menu This is a menu crafted to suit someone who can't eat meat, or anything spicy hot, or acidic. Meze Table sides: Various olives Salads and Dips: Kisir (Turkish bulgur salad; recipe below) Patlican Salatasi (Turkish eggplant salad; recipe below) Fasulye Salatasi (Turkish white bean salad with pomegranate molasses) Cacik (yogurt infused with cucumber and salt; recipe below) Whole Wheat Pita bread Main Dishes: Cauliflower in Tarator Sauce or Zahrah Imam Bayildi (Turkish stuffed eggplant) Dolma (stuffed grape leaves) Spanakopita (Greek spinach/feta pie in phyllo dough) Dessert: Orange slices with cinnamon More ideas: Antalya Usulü Piyaz (Turkish white bean/vegetable salad with tahini vinaigrette) Çoban Salatasi (Turkish shepherd's salad with red pepper instead of tomatoes) Hummus Muhammara (red bell pepper/walnut paste) Kibbeh (fried or baked bulgur/meat patties) sliced kasseri cheese Tursu (mixed pickles, or fermented vegetables) fried halloumi cheese ==================== Kisir (Turkish Tabbouleh) 2 cups of fine bulgur (NOTE: cannot substitute "cracked wheat") 2 cups of hot water 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon pepper paste (preferably hot) 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 bunch green onions, finely chopped 1 small onion, cut in thin half rounds 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (CRITCAL - DO NOT OMIT OR USE DRY) 1 cucumber, seeded and finely chopped 1-2 banana peppers, finely chopped (can sub Anaheim or leave out) 2 tablespoons pomegranate syrup lemon juice to taste 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional - leave out for Karen/Juli) 1/8 tsp ground black pepper few mint leaves, minced very fine 1 tsp cumin romaine lettuce leaves and tomato wedges for serving Put tomato paste and pepper paste in a big bowl and combine with boiling water, whisking to dissolve the pastes. Add bulgur and salt. Stir once. Cover with a thick kitchen towel and let it soak for 10-20 minutes. After, if the bulgur is not tender, add a little water and microwave for 2-3 minutes. The bulgur has to be easily chewable. Cut the onion in half first, then into very thin half-moon shapes. In a little bowl, knead onion with 1 tsp salt. Rinse salt and squeeze water. Taste - if it still tastes too much like raw onion, briefly saute in a little olive oil. Fluff bulgur with a fork. Add pepper flakes, ground pepper, cumin, mint flakes, oil, pomegranate syrup, lemon juice, and onion. Mix well. At this point taste to see if it needs more lemon juice. Kisir should be a little bit sour. Add banana peppers, green onions, cucumber, and parsley. Mix well. Kisir is served and eaten with lettuce leaves and tomatoes. We don't add tomatoes to kisir, because tomatoes make it mushy. So kisir is usually served on a lettuce bed (you can wrap some kisir in a lettuce leaf and eat like that) with slices of tomato on the side. ==================== Caçik (aka tzatziki, pronounced "jah-cheek") 1 32 oz container of plain Greek yogurt 2 good size cucumbers peeled, seeded, dewatered and finely chopped 4 garlic cloves minced 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill few mint leaves, finely minced lemon juice to taste salt to taste (probably won't need any if you salt the cucumbers) Prepare the cucumbers first. After they are finely chopped, sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of salt and put them in a strainer. Let them sit until they look very wet, then rinse off the salt and squeeze against the strainer to remove water. Then transfer to a clean towel, form into a ball, and twist to remove more liquid. Cucumber water is the bane of this dish, so do try to remove as much as you can. Finely mince the garlic, or thaw out "ice cubes". Finely chop the fresh herbs. Mix all the ingredients together. Check seasoning. Place caçik in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let the flavors meld. ==================== Grant's Patlican Salatasi 2 long skinny eggplants 12 mixed mini bell peppers 1 medium red onion 3-4 garlic cloves, pureed (2 cubes) 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses 1/2 tablespoon tamarind sauce salt & pepper Preheat oven to 375°F. Pull garlic to thaw. Slice the eggplant about 1" thick Peel and trim the onion and then skewer it top and bottom and sever Cut the ends off the peppers and remove seeds and pith. Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a bowl and toss eggplant and peppers. Lay out on cookie sheets, eggplant and onion on one, peppers on other. Roast eggplant/onion for 15-20 minutes. Put peppers in oven and turn eggplant slices and onion halves, and roast for another 15-20 minutes, checking peppers halfway through. Combine remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add this dressing to the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate. NOTES: I tried this on the propane grill. I peeled the Chinese eggplants stripe- fashion, then cut them into rounds about 1" thick. I cut the ends off the peppers and removed the seeds and pith. I skewered the onion on both sides of the median and then cut it into two thick slices. The grilling didn't go well. The eggplant was fine, but the onion needed a lot more time and the peppers fell down through the cooking grates alarmingly, and many were so overdone they weren't edible. I think oven roasting the peppers and eggplant rounds will work fine. I will probably still grill the onion.