The hectic excitement of Kingaroy had left us feeling like a pretty lazy weekend, which meant a quiet dinner at home on Saturday evening. Cindy's enthusiastic consumption of thousands of food blogs means we always have a backlog of worthy recipes to sample. This weekend's treat: Turkish food from Ceviz at Only Turkish Food. I was feeling ready for a crazy kitchenathon, so I decided to attempt two courses: Lemon Zucchini in Olive Oil and Turkish Lentil Balls (see links for the full recipes).The whole process was quite time consuming, particularly because I'm not big on multi-tasking. I'm sure I could have set the vegies up to cook and then made the lentil balls while they were simmering away, but that's not how I do things. I start at the start and work all the way through to the end. So by the time I'd cooked the lentils and the onions, stirred through the bulghur, tomato paste and spices, a good half hour had passed and I hadn't even started on the zuchs. I mucked up the recipe for the vegies slightly by halving the entire recipe except for the zucchini, which probably threw the balance out slightly. Still, after another half an hour or so of vegie cooking, it was all ready to go. Cindy chipped in by lightly toasting some Turkish bread and the meal was complete.
The lentil balls were quite tasty, but I think I may have enjoyed them a little more if we'd eaten them fresh from the stove - or possibly given them a quick turn in the fry pan before serving them up. Still, they were remarkably easy patties to make and, with a little tweaking of the spices (I'd add in something with a bit more heat - chilli or cayenne), these could come in handy as part of a Turkish feast. The vegies were also a success - the oil and lemon juice combined well and the thoroughly cooked vegetables were soft and flavoursome. With the bread on hand to mop up the oily run-off and the lentil patties to provide some bulk, I was pretty happy with this Turkish experiment.
Yum- a refreshing and light meal that looks tasty! Will have to try out the lemon zuchini soon!
ReplyDeleteI reckon it's worth a go, M's Nemesis - just make sure you've got some bread to mop up the juices with!
ReplyDeleteThat looks fantastic! It's unfortunate my housemates and Boy (which rules out most people I cook with and for!) are more vegaphobic than adventurous, otherwise this would be a completely amazing meal to have. Maybe if I can convince them it's got meat in it...
ReplyDeleteHey Mel, it's a challenge to find the right vego recipes to please the less adventurous omnivores, isn't it? Maybe you could try something like TVP (soy mince) before moving onto the lentils. :-) Depending on how fussy they are, they might enjoy the zucchini dish as a side to their meat - it's juicy and tangy and doesn't taste like greens.
ReplyDeleteNice try! Yes, I like the lentil balls more chilli as well, so don't hesitate to add in cayenne pepper. And, yes, I do love them still warm. Fresh herbs also make a nice twist. Cheers, ceviz.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Ceviz! Glad you stopped by and gave those extra suggestions for next time we make these. :-)
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