Ingredients:

• 3 medium yellow zucchini, cut into small quarters
• 3 medium green zucchini, cut into small quarters
• 2 large eggplants, cut into small quarters
• 3/4 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil
• salt for seasoning

Preparation:

1. Preheat to 450° – Position 1 rack in bottom third and 1 rack in top third of oven.
2. Wash and cut yellow zucchini in small quarters and place in large bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of oil and season with salt toss well to coat.
3. Arrange on to your baking sheet.
4. Wash and cut green zucchini in small quarters and place in large bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of oil and season with salt toss well to coat.
5. Arrange on to your baking sheet.
6. Wash and peel the every other skin of the eggplant, cut into small quarters and place in large bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of oil and season with salt toss well to coat.
7. Arrange on to your baking sheets.
8. Arrange baking sheets in the oven. Bake all vegetables until tender and slightly charred, stirring occasionally, about 25 – 35 minutes longer.  For the last 5 minutes, turn on your oven broiler and leave the vegetables to char lightly on top.
9. Arrange vegetables on large platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sauce:

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of yogurt
• salt
• mint

1. Dice the garlic into tiny pieces or press through a garlic presser. Place in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in the yogurt and a little bit of salt and mix well.
3. Lightly drizzle mint on top and serve.

We love our Sunday breakfasts and brunches, this past weekend we had some great company that joined us.  I would like to thank them from here for coming and sharing their Sunday with us.  I can assure you we had a wonderful time and hope to do it again really soon.  Aleyna and Aras, my cousins son played very well together, but since my lovely daughter woke up at the crack of dawn with my mom, she fell a sleep by noon.  She loves visitors and runs around being a silly hostess.

Lately all I’ve been doing is sharing these sweet recipes with you all, this time I’ll share a simple and easy salty dish.  Well it really it is not that saltly buy more savory.  Serve it warm with a few pieces of toast and your guest will be delighted. 

You see this dish is suppose to be cooked in a tart shell, but I honestly did not have the time to prepare the shell. I prepared and baked it like a frittata and it was also accompanied by a vegetable quiche. 

Oven Baked Caramalized Cauliflower
               adapted slightly from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 pound), cored, cut into 1-inch florets
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (7- to 8-ounce) mascarpone per original recipe
  mixture of 1/2 cream cheese and 1/2 sour cream or 1 200 grams Turkish Labne will work fine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of dry mint
• 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese or kasari
• salt

Preparation:

1. Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°F. Toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl. Spread on large rimmed baking sheet, spacing apart. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes (mine took about 25 minutes) turn florets over. Continue roasting until tender, about 25 minutes longer (added another 15 minutes). Cool cauliflower, then thinly slice. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is deep golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly.
3. Brush bottom and sides a baking dish. Spread onion on to the bottom. Arrange cauliflower evenly over.
4. Whisk eggs, milk, mint ingredients in medium bowl. Stir in Gruyère or kasar. Pour mixture over filling in the pan.
5. Bake until top is golden and center is set, about 25-35 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 15 minutes before serving.

I really enjoy making and eating kisir, the Turkish version of Middle Eastern Tabbouleh. You might wonder what the difference is between the Turkish and the well known Middle Eastern versions.  The Turkish version contains more bulgur along with tomato & red pepper paste as well as less chopped parsley & lemon juice.  If you have ever tried the real authentic Middle Eastern Tabbouleh, then you will be able to taste and see the real differences .  I personally love both and at times prefer one for the other.  My favorite Tabbouleh is from this small restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Check them out, I’m not the only critic. When I had started blogging, I had posted a Kisir recipe, hence this is a simpler and quicker version.

TURKISH TABBOULEH – KISIR

Ingredients

• 1 cup of fine Bulgur
• 1 cup of boiling hot water
• 1 tablespoon of red pepper paste (available at all Middle Eastern Stores)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 medium size yellow onions – diced fine
• 3 scallions – diced both white and green parts
• 2 medium size Italian frying peppers – diced
• 2 kirbies/can be substituted for one large cucumber
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1 lemon juiced and zested
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley chopped
• 1 teaspoons of dry mint or 1/3 cup of fresh mint chopped
• salt for seasoning

Preparation

1. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. 
2. Place the bulgur in a deep salad bowl, add in salt and mix. 
3. Add the boiling water cover with plastic wrap and  set a side until the bulgur absorbs all the water.
4. In about 5 to 10 minuts, the bulgur will have absorbed all the water.
5. In the mean time you can prepare the following. Diced the onions, peppers and scallions.
6. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil, add in the onions, peppers and scallions add salt and let saute until they become soft. About 5-7 minuts.
7. Remove the plastic cover from the bulgur bowl, with a fork fluff the bulgur.
8. Add in the tablespoon of red pepper paste and tomato paste and mix with the back of the fork (sort of like rubbing the paste into the bulgur), till the bulgur becomes a nice orange color.  
9. Next, add in the lemon juice and the zest of the lemon along with the sautéed mixture and mix well.
10. Peel and dice the kirbies (I zebra peeled & diced in half bite sizes), chop the parsly and mint. Add into the mixture and toss well.
11. Transfer the tabouli into a nice serving dish and decorate as you wish. 

This turned out to be one of my favorite salads.  Very simple, easy and filling, as anything with bulgur tends to be. 

Corn & Bulgur Salad
adapted slightly from Food & Wine

Ingredients

• 1 cup of fine or coarse bulgur*
• 1 cup of corn (frozen defrosted or freshly cut from the cob)
• 1.5 cups of boiling water for bulgur (.5 cup of water if using coarse bulgur)
• 1.5 cups of boiling water for corn
• 1 medium red onion – finely diced
• 1 medium tomato – finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of Pomegranate Molasses
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 3 tablespoons of parsley chopped

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the one cup of the fine bulgur, top with one teaspoon of salt and the pour one cup of the hot boiling water. Cover with plastic saran rap and set a side.
2. Add the defrosted or freshly cut corn into the 1.5 cups of broiling water.  Cook the freshly cut corn until soft.  For the defrosted corn, add it into the broiling water and then drain well and dry.  (This method allows the corn to loose the frozen taste.)
3. Uncover the plastic wrap from the bulgur, add in the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and mix well and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes to allow the bulgur to absord the flavors.
4. In the meantime chop and dice the red onion, tomato and parsley.
5. Into the bulgur mixture, add in the corn, red onion, tomato, parsley, and salt for taste.  Mix well and throughly.
6. Pour into a nice serving bowl, cover and chill several hours.  Can serve at room temperature as well.

*Fine & coarse bulgur is available at A&D Food Market & many Middle Eastern or Natural foods stores.
*The salad can be made a day in advance.