Eggplant-Meatball Casserole (Fırında Köfteli Patlıcan)

This delicious eggplant and meatball recipe was highly inspired by another recipe I found at one of Turkey's most popular and successful food blogs: portakal ağacı. In her blog Hatice, tells that she got the recipe from an aunt (in Turkey you call all the elderly ladies "aunt X or Y" for respect regardless of your blood relation to them) and that it's called "Antep kebap" (Antep Kebabı). I liked the idea of having meatballs and eggplant--my favorite vegetable--but I didn't follow the recipe strictly. I think this is the good side of casserole dishes; they give you room for flexibility. In the end it turned out to be a light and tasty recipe.

I particularly like meatball casserole dishes, because (1) they are really easy to make and (2) in the end they are delicious. I usually make meatballs from 2 lb of ground lamb and beef. Later I freeze meatballs and use them whenever I need them. As you can imagine, when you have already made frozen meatballs, making any kind of meatball casserole dish takes almost no time.

























2-3 eggplants, peeled in stripes and cut in 1 inch rounds
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 or 1/2 banana pepper for each meatball
1 big onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt

for meatball (I used half of the meatballs from this batch for the recipe; the other half went straight to the freezer)
1 lb ground meat
1-2 slice of stale bread, processed in a food processor or grated
1 eggs
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 big clove of garlic, minced
1 onion, grated or finely chopped
1/2 parsley, finely chopped
(the original recipe didn't ask for cumin, oregano leaves, onion, and garlic for the meatball part)

-Mix well all the ingredients for meatball in a bowl and make round , half inch thick meatballs.
-Peel the eggplants in stripes and cut them in rounds. Place the rounds in a casserole.
-Place one meatball on each eggplant round.
-Scatter chopped onion and garlic on meatballs.
-Underneath onion and garlic, you'll still see your small eggplant and meatball towers; put one slice of tomato and one or half banana pepper (or any pepper you want) on each eggplant+meatball tower.
-Salt to your taste and pour 1/4 cup of alive oil on top.
-Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for an hour at a preheated oven at 450F. After an hour uncover, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

I served eggplant and meatball casserole with bulgur pilaf and yogurt.

Spinach with Soft Wheat Berries (Buğdaylı Ispanak)

I usually cook spinach with white rice. I had bought a big bag of soft wheat berries for another recipe. They are tastier than bulgur, and softer and easier to chew than brown rice. I decided to use them with spinach for a great summer recipe.

























1 full cup of pearl onions, or 1 big onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 tomatoes, grated or 1 can diced tomato
1 cup cooked soft wheat berries
1 lb / almost 1/2 kilo spinach, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock or water (hot)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
salt
black pepper (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)

























-1/3 cup of soft wheat berries will make approximately 1 cup when they're cooked. Boil 1/3 cup soft wheat berries in 3-4 cups of water until berries are soft.
-Heat the oil in a broad pot. Stir onion and garlic until slightly brown.
-Pour in tomatoes and cook for 5-8 minutes.
-Stir in spinach, lemon juice, sugar, salt, pepper(s), and berries.
-Pour vegetable stock.
-Cover and cook on medium for 30-35 minutes.
-You serve it cold or hot. It goes well with fresh bread and yogurt.

Cold Soft Wheat Berry Soup (Soğuk Buğday Çorbası)

I'm back from Turkey with great memories and recipes. The first recipe is "cold soft wheat berry soup." Although this dish is called soup, it might be served as an appetizer or a side dish. However it's served, it's a great refreshing and healthy dish for hot and humid summer days. During most summer days, my mom keeps cooked soft wheat berries ready in the refrigerator (they are usually good for at least a week). The last week of July was unbearably humid generally in Turkey and especially in my hometown; so hot and humid that our favorite pass time activity was to sit motionless in front air conditioners. During those painful days, cold soft wheat berry soup and ice cold watermelons were the only two things we could have for lunch and both felt sooo good.






















soft wheat berries
yogurt
water
dried-mint flakes or finely chopped fresh mint
oregano leaves
red pepper flakes
olive oil
salt

-Boil wheat berries with a good amount of water until cooked. (You can cook more than you need for the day and keep the rest in the refrigerator for at least a week)
-Take as much as you need in a big bowl and add yogurt on top enough to cover the berries when mixed. (We always add a little more than necessary to cover berries)
-If you like a thick bowl of soup, do not add water, but if you like it thinner add some water. With this soup, everything is up to you; you can add more or less of everything.
-Sprinkle mint, oregano, pepper flakes, and salt on top.
-Add 1 or 2 tbsp of olive oil.
-Mix and serve cold.

This recipe with the dried herbs is for Weekend Herb Blogging. WHB was founded by Kalyn and is hosted by Zorra from Kochtopf.