Mediterranean Style Kidney Beans

Food in Turkish cooking usually comes with a meaning or a backstory, and is so often associated with a particular time of year, or celebration. Even something as simple as the traditional Turkish food barbunya pilaki, mediterranean style kidney beans, has a place. In Turkey, barbunya pilaki is usually eating alongside seafood dishes as a cold meze.

At Turkish New Year (celebrated around the same time as Thanksgiving in the US or the run-up to Christmas in the UK) we pile our tables high with cold meze, including kidney bean recipes like barbunya pilaki, and serve it with raki, the traditional Turkish firewater. At these times of celebrations family, friends and community come together and share these communal dishes, in a similar way to tapas in Spain. While they might seem like appetizers, we tend to serve meze plates alongside salads and main dishes, making meals a bit of a free-for-all!

One of my favourite easy Turkish recipes, barbunya pilaki can also be served hot, as one of the many everyday meals we cook at home, and served with rice and salad. We usually use a special kind of kidney bean that only grows in the Antalya region of Turkey, which is smaller and whiter than common kidney beans, but the ordinary version works as well. In the hot version, particularly when served up as a terracotta casserole, the taste of the beans is deeper and stronger, which gives the dish more of a presence.

This is a great, easy meal, and something to reach for when you just need quick meals for dinner. It is one of my favourite mediterranean recipes, and one of my favourite traditional Turkish recipes too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium tomatoes
• 2 medium white potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 cups of kidney beans
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• A pinch of salt, chilli pepper, black pepper and sugar
• 1 tsp of tomato puree
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of hot water

TO SERVE

• 1/4 of a bunch of fresh parsley
• The juice and zest of 1 lemon

METHOD:

1. Soak the kidney beans for 8 hours or overnight. You can also cook them for 10 min too. Dice the vegetables.
2. In a large pan add the diced onion, diced potato, diced carrot, diced red pepper and garlic. Cook over a low heat until all the vegetables begin to soften.
3. Add the tomato puree, then sprinkle over the sugar, black pepper, chilli pepper and salt.
4. Add the beans, tomatoes and olive oil, and stir everything until they begin to soften.
5. Finally, add the hot water and cook gently for 30 min.
6. Serve hot or cold with chopped parsley, a splash of lemon juice and lemon zest to taste.

These sorts of traditional Turkish recipes always remind me of cosy atmospheres, long chats at restaurants on the waterfront, and unforgettable memories with family and friends. I hope that this healthy meal recipe gives you inspiration when you are looking for recipes for vegetarians, kid friendly meals, or when you just don’t know what to cook!

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