All right, I know that most of you started to think I got lost again but don’t worry I returned back to where I belong, to my kitchen. I had a short vacation between two posts and got a chill as a bonus. Now I am fully recovered and ready to compensate my absence.

Last week I had a chance to visit farmers market in the neighborhood which is my favorite place for all sort of grocery shopping. It was too crowded and noisy as always thanks to shouting farmer boys to attract customers by telling how fresh were their rocket leaves or that no fertilizer was used to grow those tomatoes.

No matter how louder they shout it is difficult to convince old, picky ladies who have such a strong aptitude developed over years to find the best of the best deals in the whole market. If a stall is circled with these golden-agers, it is a good idea to check seller’s offer. The only tricky part is to take care of your feet against the high possibility of being smashed under an old lady’s wheeled shopping bag. Such sort of hassles comes with the farmers market experience package and not separable.

Setting aside the crowd, farmers market is the best place to find fresh vegetables and fruits of the season. In general groceries sold here are picked a few days before your purchase which enables them to remain good for a longer time compared to the ones you bought from neighborhood supermarket and stacked there after a long supply chain journey.

Going through different vegetable stalls, fresh green beans caught my attention and I dived into the crowd in front. I quickly took one of the beans and broke into two pieces to test. And yes, that was the right place for crunchy green beans with no strings. Old, picky ladies were right again! On the way back I also found beautiful tomatoes still on their branch coming from west coast side and grabbed a pack full of them before I take my way home to prepare our meal.

For this recipe I made use of a different cooking technique but I have to say that it is the best way to preserve the color and texture of green beans. I read about this technique on an article long before and it was on my mind since then. Important point is to cook sliced green beans in hot water (but not boiling) with a generous amount of salt. This will decrease the amount of chlorophyll (substance giving the green color to beans) transferred to hot water. You also need to make a big bowl of iced water ready aside and put the drained beans in it to immediately stop cooking right after eight minutes.

It is nice to try different techniques for old school recipes we got used to. Traditional fresh green bean recipe requires cooking beans with sautéed onion in olive oil and tomato combination for a longer time. Unfortunately green color and crunchy texture of beans will be lost at the end. This alternative recipe requires breaking the whole process into pieces and gathering up the side products afterwards. If you would like to have your beans more tender you always have a chance to cook them in hot water a few minutes more. In any case your beans will be greener than before so it might be a good idea calling this recipe as “literally green beans with tomato sauce”. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients (for 8 servings)

• 1 kg. (2,2 pounds)fresh green beans (washed, drained, cut French style)
• 1 large sized onion (finely chopped)
• 10-12 small sized tomatoes (peeled and diced)
• 6 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon grass (optional)
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Sliced almonds
• 4 tablespoons sea salt

Instructions

Another close friend of mine is now thousands miles away to start a new life, probably suffering from jetlag with a little bit of alienation thanks to experiencing big changes in just a few weeks time. Getting married, leaving your job, moving overseas are some examples of a “big change” for most of the people and my poor friend is exposed all of these simultaneously. At some point we all want to get out of our lives and to start leading another life in another place (preferably in a less complex way than the one featured in LOST) but when this turns out to be true, we suddenly realize that it is not easy as it seems. However, I am pretty sure that my friend has what it takes to adapt to all these changes soon.

For my side, as if staying apart from a close friend was not enough, I also lost my hardly found lunch accompany to enjoy oven baked sea bass and arugula salad in a meatball lover community I was surrounded. I guess two of us could eat this combination tirelessly during the whole week. Now all waiters in the place know the order by heart; two oven baked sea basses and two arugula salad, one with no sauce and no olive oil. This menu reminds me of lots of laughs, funny moments, office rumors and sometimes our consolidated angers against something we won’t remember the other day.

I do not know whether it was due to joy of having such a cozy intermission or due to pomegranate sauce they use in the kitchen, this salad has always made my day. Pomegranate sauce is simply a combination of concentrated pomegranate juice and glucose syrup but it tastes so good on any fresh green leaf that it turns out to be a perfect substitute for other salad sauces or vinaigrettes.

In the last few years, pomegranate became so popular in Turkish food scene like Louis Vuitton handbags on everyone’s shoulder around. It is almost impossible to imagine a generous breakfast table without freshly squeezed pomegranate juice or any upscale bar that does not offer special shots or cocktails featuring pomegranate. Last time I was almost getting choked due to pomegranate arils they put in my cocktail. Aside from being a lethal weapon in my case, this ancient fruit is like a healing pill for lots of health problems. It has been widely used in ancient Ayurveda system of medicine to cure many illnesses. With its high antioxidant content it helps treating dysentery, balancing blood pressure, reducing heart disease risk, inhibiting viral infections and so on. Even there are some researches indicating that pomegranate extract diminishes the number of prostate and breast cancer cells in a test tube. Pomegranate also appears in Egyptian mythology and art since they used to take advantage of its thirst-quenching juice in the desert. In short, it is something good to consume.

You may enjoy this extra healthy salad with breadsticks in the previous post if you would like to have a light meal today. As for me, it means more than that. Anytime I prepare this salad, I will recall our friendly chats around that table putting an instant smile on my face.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)

• 2 handfuls of washed, drained and roughly chopped arugula leaves
• 100 g (3.5 oz.) feta cheese, cubed
• 2 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons pomegranate sauce (you may use Grenadine as a replacement but I recommend adding some lemon juice according to your taste, otherwise it might be too sweet)
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate arils
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes, sliced
• A pinch of sea salt

Instructions