Posted on Friday, 3 October 2014

I remember my summer in Izmir, one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey. Hot sun, happy people and delicious foods – these are the memories that got stuck in my head. Every day I would wake up feeling the sun on my face and that would always make me smile. I would then have a beautiful breakfast outside in the garden. The Turkish love their fresh vegetables, cheese and fruit. My breakfast table would always be set with olives, sun dried tomatoes, dressed cucumber, peppers, a variety of cheeses, fresh bread and pastries. Wonderful.

That is what I like about Turkish cuisine – their food is fresh, healthy and most importantly finger licking delicious!

One of the recipes I picked up in Izmir was Kısır – a delicious Turkish couscous salad, perfect for lunch or as a garnish with a meat dish. It is incredibly easy to make and here's the recipe. 

Ingredients:

250 grams of Couscous

2 tomatoes

1 large cucumber

1 red onion

1 red chilli

Parsley

Coriander

Mint

Juice of half a lemon

Olive oil

1 tbsp of tomato puree

Salt

Pepper

1 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of smoked paprika

Cooking method:

Pour 250g of couscous in to a medium size bowl and mix it up with salt, pepper, cumin and smoked paprika. Then add boiling water (just enough to cover the couscous), cover the bowl with cling film and leave it to rest.

Chop the onion, tomatoes and cucumber into small cubes and don't forget the chilli! Chop 1 red chilli into small cubes and remove the seeds if you don't like your food spicy. 

Once the veggies are prepared, all that is left to do is to chop in some herbs. Finely chop a bunch of fresh parsley, coriander and mint.

Add a table spoon of tomato puree to the couscous and mix in the herbs and vegetables. Lastly, flavour the dish with lemon juice and a good drizzle of olive oil.

You can add feta cheese or pomegranate seeds to your salad, or have it on its own!

Enjoy your meal or as the Turkish would say - afiyet olsun!

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