So, have you heard its Autumn, finally right…I’ve been waited to long for this autumn to arrive.  I love fall weather, its cool and refreshing, it awakes the other senses that you sort of loose during the summer heat. 

So, this is another recipe from my Moroccan Iftar dinner and since fall is upon us I believe its one of those simple and must have recipes.  I actually made this soup on a warm day, but the soup served its purpose, filling our empty stomachs with goodness and warmth.  During fall and winter days, a soup is a must have in our house hold, especially lentil soups.  It could be red lentil, green lentil or even yellow lentil, they are all equally satisfying and delicious.

TURKISH GREEN LENTIL SOUP
                       ( Yesil Mercimek Corbasi)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of green lentils
• 1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6 cups water + 2 cups of water
• salt, to taste
• lemon – to serve with

Preparation:

1. Into 2 cups of water, add in the green lentils and bring to a broil, about 10 to 15 minutes.  This process allows the green dark lentils to release its dark coloring.  Once the water turns a darkish brown color, drain the lentils and set a side. 
2. In a medium saucepan, add in the olive oil, onion, carrot, tomato paste, salt, 6 cups of water and green lentils.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for about 15 to 20 minutes or until all the ingredients are soft.  Stir occasionaly to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. Once all the ingredients are soft, the soup is done.  As this point you have a few options on how you can to serve the soup.
   Either: a. leave the soup as it is, it will be bit chunky but flavorful. b. puree the soup, either by hand held blender in the sauce pan or in a blender.  Puree until no chucks are left and pour the soup back into your sauce pan if you have used a blender to puree.
5. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls.
6. When serving, squeeze some lemon juice on top and serve with bread.

Note: There are several various ways of making lentil soups, it all depends on your style of cooking.  The method is the same, give or take a few ingredients. Here are a few additional recipes for red & green lentil soups, from my favorite food blogs.

Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook – Turkish Red Lentil Soup
Almost Turkish Recipes – Green Lentil Soup with Rice
Binnur’s Turkish Cookbook – Green Lentil Soup
Portakal Agaci – Spinach and Green Lentil Soup
NY’s Delight – Green Lentil Soup with Pastina
NY’s Delight – Red Lentil Soup

All things fried are suppose to be bad for our health, let me tell you this means nothing to me.  I believe that everything in moderation is good and once in while indulging in fried vegetables is good for our health.  Please tell me who can say no to a good french fry or deep fried chicken.  I can honestly say, pass the plate my way.

Frying vegetables is actually very popular in Turkish cuisines as well as Middle Eastern and Greek.  One of the top fried vegetables is zucchini, especially when they are in season like right about now.  Aside from frying zucchinis, these cuisines also fry or saute (a fancier word) green Italian peppers, eggplants, mushrooms, red bell peppers and tomatoes.  A combinations of these vegetables fired is utterly amazing and delicious.  We tend to fry these vegetables because it is becomes a quick, easy and actually very satisfying meal and very refreshing when served with garlic and yogurt sauce. These dishes are often served as an appetizer, a side dish or even as a main course.

The most important thing to remember is to keep the recipe simple and use the freshest ingredients when possible.

FRIED ZUCCHINI 
                   aka GREEN SQUASH

Ingredients:

• 4 medium to long, thick zucchini
• salt
• black pepper
• 3/4 vegetable oil
          (it is better to use this sort of oil when frying – because olive oil will burn very quickly)
• several paper towel – to absorb the excess oil

Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 cup of yogurt (or more if you like)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• salt

Preparation:

1. Wash the zucchini very well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Cut of the head and end pieces.  Begin slicing the zucchini into about 1/4 inch thick slices.  Nothing to thin and nothing to thick.  If it is to thin once it cooks it breaks apart and nothing to thick because the inside will not cook through.
2. Into a medium to large a bit deep frying pan, heat up the cooking oil to about 200-250 degrees. 
3. Slowly and carefully, add in the slices of zucchini, about 10 -12 pieces into the pan – depending on the size of your pan.  Do not dump everything all at once – the objective is to fry the zucchinis in batches. 
4. Let the zucchini cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, until they become a nice brown color.  The first batch will take a bit longer to cook, don’t worry this is normal. 
5. Onto a flat surfaced plate, place a paper towel over the plate.  Once the zucchinis are cooked on each side, remove from the oil using a spatula and place them over the paper towel.  The paper towel will absorb the excess oil.  At this time sprinkle with salt and black pepper over the hot zucchinis.  (I find the seasoning each batch is much easier and better, because you can control the amount of your seasoning.)
6. Continue to cook the zucchinis in batches until they are all fried and seasoned.
7. In the mean time prepare your yogurt and garlic sauce.  Into a small mixing bowl, add in the yogurt, salt and minced garlic and mix well. (I like to grate fresh garlic with the smallest side of the box grater – this brings out the flavor really well.)  Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until serving.
8. Once all the zucchinis are cooked, place on to a serving dish and let cool.  It can be served warm or cold.
9. When serving, place yogurt sauce over the top.
10. Enjoy!