Fall Salad with Squash and Pomegranates

November 13, 2019 by Gizem in Salads

Last two weeks I was busy moving this blog to Squarespace mainly because I like how streamlined their user experience is. It took me a while but after a couple days of work I got all my content transferred and now, you are looking at the brand new mintandsumac.com! I am excited to continue blogging and I plan on making it a regular effort in 2020. Maybe this will be my first “new year resolution”.

But before I start talking about next year, there are still holidays to celebrate and lots of eating to be done this year. I find most holiday food to be heavy (but I guess that is part of the point!) so I like to lighten it up by serving a seasonal salad (and if I am not the host I offer bringing salad). For me, salads are all about flavor and texture. I generally use very simple dressings like lemon juice, olive oil and vinegar so it is important to me to layer various flavors for taste satisfaction and layer textures for what I’d call mouthfeel satisfaction. This fall salad mixes tangy, sweet and bitter flavors and layers crunchy, creamy and juicy textures. It is very simple to put together if you are short on time and also adds a pop of color to your dinner table.

Yields: 4 servings Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 kabocha squash (or acorn or delicata)

4 cups of arugula

3 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or to taste)

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or to taste)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Clean the seeds of the kabocha squash and cut in large, 1 1/2 inch chunks. I prefer to leave them unpeeled so they keep their shape.

3. Place the kabocha squash on a baking sheet and toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil.

4. Roast for about 20-25 mins until the squash is soft.

5. In a bowl or a serving platter toss the arugula, roasted squash, feta cheese and pomegranate seeds.

6. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar before serving.

Enjoy!

Poached Quince

November 08, 2019 by Gizem in Dessert

It has been a while. I guess, all I can say is, life happened. We have been in Seattle for almost two years and being workaholics, we have buried ourselves in our jobs. With the fall months rolling in, I got reminded of how much I miss cooking and sharing recipes on this blog, both for myself and for everyone who has been following. So I am back and this time, I plan to stick around.

I know many of you (including me!) don’t like to scrolling ten minutes through a giant blog post to finally reach to the recipe but this is a blog and I have been gone for a long time so some updates are in order.

This year, we traveled to South Korea where we ate so much and everything (would anyone like posts on our trips with a focus on food?) and to Isle of Skye that took our breath away with its amazing scenery. I started lifting weights again with amazing Brent Hruska of Barbell Vitality and not only I can now deadlift 170lbs but I also lost 18lbs along the way! Goodbye FL pounds I gained in the year we lived there. We have been to many national parks and had a great camping trip in Crater Lake Natinoal Park with a close group of friends. I am not an outdoorsy person but I discovered a love of cooking on open fire and will be sharing recipes for camping in the future for sure. I have been on a ton of trips for work, to DC, San Francisco, Orlando and more San Francisco, which allowed me to see family and friends while also working hard. And Cesar got a new job and he is loving it! There is more to come this year with my parents visiting for the holidays and more travels but I’ll save those for later.

Fall came to Seattle very early this year, I for one, wasn’t ready for it. But then when I saw all the amazing fall bounty at the University Farmers Market I got in the mood for cooking again. If you are still stuck in the summer months, this is the perfect dessert that will get you in the mood for fall, especially if you are not ready for the pies and not into all the pumpkin spice craziness.

Quince is a fruit that comes from the same family as apples and pears. But unlike apples and pears, most types of quince are not edible raw. They are too sour, hard and astringent to be tasty unless cooked. In Turkey (which has the highest production of quince to my knowledge), we make jams, pastes and desserts with quince. This recipe is a classic and a family favorite. It is light and not too sweet, plus, it looks quite elegant so you can knock everyone’s socks off if you make some for your various Thanksgiving festivities.

Yields: 8 servings Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

4 quinces

Half a lemon’s juice

12 tablespoons of granulated sugar (3 tbsp per quince)

1 cinnamon stick

3-4 cloves (or 1 teaspoon ground cloves)

For serving:

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Crème fraîche (or clotted cream)

Preparation

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze half a lemon’s juice. Quince turns brown very rapidly once cut and peeled. To avoid this, you will be placing the cleaned quinces inside the water.

Do steps 2-4 one by one for each quince to avoid browning.

2. First cut the quince in half along its width. If done correctly you should see the seeds in the center, forming a flower-like shape. Cutting them this way makes cleaning process much easier.

3. Using a spoon and/or paring knife, carve out all the seeds. DO NOT discard the seeds. We will use them later. Set them aside.

4. Peel the quince and place into the bowl filled with cold water.

5. Once all the quinces are cleaned, place all the halves into a sauté pan with the carved center facing the top. If they are not standing flat, you can cut a bit to flatten its bottom.

6. Cover each quince with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

7. Add in the cinnamon and cloves.

8. Sprinkle all the quince seeds that you set aside onto the quinces. The seeds help give the quince a deep orange/red color once cooked.

9. Start cooking on low heat. Cook for 30-35 minutes. The sugar and the water are going to turn into a syrupy consistency. You can stop cooking when there is some syrup left in the bottom of the pan. The quinces should get softer and turn a deeper orange in color.

10. Using a spoon, transfer the quinces to a serving platter. Drizzle them with the syrup in the pan. Place chopped walnuts into the carved center of each quince. When serving, place a dollop of crème fraîche onto each piece.

Enjoy!

Lentil Soup with Chard Stems

November 08, 2019 by Gizem in Soup

Lentil soup is quintessential in Turkish cuisine. It is my go to soup whenever I am not sure what to cook. I basically grew up on this soup. I had it at home and at the school cafeteria growing up and at late night soup shops to fight off hangovers during college.

Lentil soup is my idea of cozy. It is my kind of comfort food. Whenever it is cold or rainy, whenever I feel a bit under the weather, I crave lentil soup. Lately, with the nonstop rain in Seattle, this variation of classic lentil soup brought much needed warmth to our bellies at home.

This soup is creamy with the added crunch of the chard stems. I like layering textures in soups. In this soup, the crunchiness of the chard stems is a nice surprise without taking away from the flavors. The chili oil drizzled at the end, ties everything together with a nice kick.

I learned the trick of adding chard stems to lentil soup from my mom. I grew up in a household where food is never wasted. My mom would make a dish with chards and she would save the stems for salads and soups. This is probably not the exact same soup she used to make but it is my take on her recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Yields: 6-8 servings Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 cup red lentils

1 cup chopped chard stems

2 cups stock (if you don’t have stock, use 2 cups of water)

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

For the chili oil:

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons marash chili flakes (or red pepper flakes)

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over high heat.

2. Add the diced onions and cook over high heat, stirring a couple of times, for 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent.

3. Rinse the lentils under cold water until the water runs clear. Add the lentils into the pot and give everything a stir.

4. Add in the cumin, salt and pepper.

5. Add in the stock and the water and give everything a stir.

6. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft and cooked.

7. Reduce the heat to low and using a hand blender, blend the soup until creamy. If you don’t have a hand blender, you can use a smoothie blender too.

8. Add in the chopped chard stems and simmer the soup for another 5-7 minutes.

9. In the meantime, prepare the chili oil. Add the butter and the chili flakes to a small pot or saucepan and turn on the heat. Let the butter melt completely and let it bubble for a minute. The chili is going to give a red color to the melted butter.

10. Remove the hot chili oil from heat and pour on the soup. If you want you can save some to drizzle over individual servings as well.

Enjoy!