The Kitchen of Belis

This is one of the simplest recipes that I found recently. It could be a "Duh" moment for you but something as simple as chopping the brocolli instead of leaving it large really makes a difference.




Ingredients

1 large bunch broccoli
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly milled pepper
Fresh lemon juice to taste

Chop the brocolli into small florets; peel and finely chop the stems. Put the stems in the steaming basket, add the floret, then cover and steam until just a little short of being tender. Toss with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Okra is one of my family's favorite summertime vegetables. Having home-made Okra Stew has always been something that I would look forward to after spending the day on the beach by our summer house. Somehow, I associate okra with those days.

Luckily, okra is available all year around. I particularly like dried okra (see the picture below). Frozen ones work well too. Fresh would be the best of course, but I do not like the enormous ones grown here in the US.

Okra had a huge presence in the history of "Ottoman cuisine" or "palace dishes". Stuffed Okra especially was most prominent in ancient Ottoman cuisine.

Ingredients

2 handful of okra (I use dried okra)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup of safflower oil
1 spoon full of tomato paste
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 table spoon pomegranate sour (grenadine syrup)
1 cup of boiled garbanzo beans
Juice of one lemon
Salt and paprika to taste

If you are using dried okra boil for 20 minutes and then drain (but keep the water). Saute onions in oil until tender. Add tomato paste and stir. Add chopped tomatoes and garlic and cook for five minutes. Add okra and garbanzo beans. Add boiling water till it covers the top of the mixture. Taste with salt and pomegranate sour. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Later, add lemon juice and cover the top and let it rest for 15minutes.

Goes well with rice.