Zucchini and Tomatoes over Rice

Zucchini & Tomatoes over Rice Pilaf

Here is one of my favorite Turkish-inspired dishes.  Turkish food features a lot of vegetables.  Dishes made with a base of tomatoes, onions, garlic &/or peppers are very common.  For this dish, I use tomatoes, zucchini, and garlic.  I serve it over rice pilaf, but basmati rice or brown rice would work too.  I think this dish is hearty enough to be a vegetarian entrée.  If you have a die-hard meat eater in the house, throw some browned ground beef in their portion. 

Ingredients: 

1 can spaghetti sauce

1 can water

3 medium zucchini

3-5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt

Instructions: 

1- Pour spaghetti sauce into a large pan, like a Dutch oven pot.  Add water, seasoned salt, and garlic. 

2- Cover and bring to a low boil on medium high heat. 

3- Scrub zucchini and cut off ends.  Cut in half lengthwise, then cut in thin half-moon slices. 

4- Add zucchini to pot.  Cover and cook on medium high until it reaches a low boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is tender. 

5- Serve over rice pilaf. 

Shepherd Salad and Rice Pilaf

I ate a lot of great food when I lived in Turkey.  Some of my favorites were home-cooked specialties that were quite labor intensive.  One of my favorite meals however was quite simple.  I loved Turkish rice pilaf with a big scoop of Shepherd salad on top. 

Shepherd salad, or coban (pronounced joe-bon) salad is usually made with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley, with fresh garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  My favorite variation is chopped tomato, cucumber, and onion.  When I scoop my salad over my rice, I include a good amount of the juice (the mixture of the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and tomato juice). 

Shepherd salad is a great side dish for many meals, but I especially love it with rice. 

Shepherd Salad (Coban Salad)

1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 medium sweet onion, peeled and chopped
2-3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/3 cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
Salt to taste

I usually combine the chopped cucumber and chopped onion in a bowl, add salt, and let sit for 30 minutes.  I refrigerate if I have room. 

I chop and salt the tomatoes separately.  I like to make enough Shepherd Salad for leftovers, but I mix with fresh tomatoes.  I prefer the texture of the fresh tomatoes versus the tomatoes refrigerated in the lemon and oil. 

Next I add the garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to the cucumbers and onions. 

Refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Add tomatoes before serving. 

Rice Pilaf

1 cup Uncle Ben’s long grain converted rice

1 cup medium grain rice, such as Hindoe
5 cups water
1/3 cup small, thin pasta
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Chicken bouillon powder

Prepare rice pilaf similar to Rice-a-Roni.  Get oil hot in skillet.  Add pasta, when starting to brown, add butter.  Cook until pasta is browned.  Don’t add the butter too soon, because it will burn before the pasta is browned. 

Add rice, water, and about one heaping tablespoon of chicken bouillon.  Cover and cook on medium for 25 minutes or until water is absorbed. 

Serve pilaf with Shepherd Salad on top.  Rice pilaf is also great in tomato soup. 

 

Okra, Tomatoes, & Potatoes

The end of the summer yielded lots of okra from my ScottArbor organic vegetable delivery program last year.  I cut some up and put it in the freezer and used it later for making vegetable soup. 

I also used organic okra for this new favorite meal.  It is reminiscent of the classic tomatoes and okra that we often had when I was growing up.  Fire roasted tomatoes really elevated this dish.  And for me, adding potato wedges, and serving the final product over rice made it a satisfying meal, rather than just a vegetable side dish. 

Ingredients

1 large can diced organic fire roasted tomatoes

2 cups water

2-3 cups okra cut into ½” rounds, stem ends disgarded

2 medium potatoes, cut lengthwise into wedges

Lawry’s seasoned salt

Lawry’s garlic with parsley

Cooked rice

Directions

1.  Empty fire roasted tomatoes into a Dutch oven pot.  Add water and heat over medium to a low boil. 

2.  Season with Lawry’s seasoned salt and garlic powder. 

3.  Add washed and sliced okra.  Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. 

4.  In a saucepan, boil potatoes until done.  Drain and add to okra. 

5.  Simmer another 10 minutes. 

6.  Serve over rice.