Zzaika

This is an all time favorite soup and it is so filling. When I had come to US of A, this was the only soup I use to love at Olive Garden and wondered if I could ever make it. Finally I succeeded in making this a few weeks back and hubby says " this is better and doubtlessly much fresher in taste than Olive Garden" . What else do I want to hear! The good part about this soup is that it is loaded with so many vegetables and pasta that your kids will love it too! We usually have this along with home-made garlic bread (Recipe I will be posting soon) or if we are in a mood to indulge ,we have it before raviolis or lasagna. But this is a very good meal by itself too. On a busy day, I love making this as it gets ready in barely 30 minutes.If you are looking for weight loss, having this soup will definitely help you in achieving your goal.

• Heat the olive oil in a stock pot and add onions and garlic till the onions become translucent.
• Add the zucchini,celery and green beans and saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Now add the vegetable broth, carrots,tomatoes,beans ( both) and spices along with water and let it boil for around 15 minutes.
• Once the soup reaches a slightly thick consistency, add baby spinach and pasta and boil for 10 minutes more.
• The soup is ready to be served. You can add some grated fresh mozzarella cheese as well!

Many of my friends complain that they do not have some ingredients and are worried if they can get the same taste with some other substitute ingredient. Following are the substitutes you can use:

Original                                     Substitute

Parsley                                       Cilantro (use in half proportion)

Basil                                           Tulsi (In India)

Thyme                                        Ajwain (carom seeds)

Oregano                                     Ajwain Leaves,Rosemary

   Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo/filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of cuisines of Turkish tradition. I was craving for this dessert when we were expecting our first baby. No doubt my son simply loves it!  Though the original recipes asks for many more layers of phyllo , since my kids are really young, I have made a slightly shorter version of the original baklava. I learnt this recipe from a Palestinian friend of mine during my Masters program in school. And lucky me! she got some baklavas for us when she had gone overseas for her summer vacations. 

This is a very simple recipe and you can prepare this a day in advance ,if you have people coming over. Also the longer the syrup is soaked in my the phyllo layers, the richer the taste will be.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the filling and the dough: 

• 1 pack Athens Fillo Pastry sheets thawed( This is available is super target or may be walmart),
• 1/2 pound walnuts crushed ( not too fine ) (you can add other nuts like pistachios,almonds and they taste good too)
• Confectioners sugar:enough to coat the crushed walnuts,
• 1 stick of unsalted butter to brush on the layers.

• 2 cups water,
• 1 1/2 cup sugar,
• Honey : 1 Tbsp,
• Fresh Lemon Juice: 1 Tbsp
• Cinnamon (optional) : a pinch or depending on how much you like cinnamon.I have not added any cinnamon here.
• Pistachio powder for garnishing

• To make the syrup, mix the sugar to the water and boil it until you get a two thread consistency syrup. Do not over-boil else the syrup won't be the soaked by the fillo dough sheets. One the desired consistency is achieved, add honey and fresh lemon juice and keep it aside to cool.
• For the filling,mix all the ingredients,except the unsalted butter.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-by-9-inch or 13-by-9-inch baking pan or 15-by-10-inch jelly roll pan. Sometimes 350 degrees will be very high for baking,so depending on your over,preheat the oven to temperatures between 315 to 350 degrees.
• Place a sheet of fillo in the prepared pan and lightly brush with butter. Repeat with 7 more sheets. Spread with half of the filling. Top with 8 more sheets, brushing each with butter. Use any torn sheets in the middle layer. Spread with the remaining nut mixture and end with a top layer of 8 sheets, continuing to brush each with butter. Cut/trim any overhanging edges.
• Using a sharp knife, cut 6 equal lengthwise strips (about 1 3/4 inches wide) through the top layer of pastry. Make 1 1/2-inch-wide diagonal cuts across the strips to form diamond shapes.
•  Just before baking, lightly sprinkle the top of the pastry with cold water. This prevents the pastry from curling. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 15 additional minutes.
• Cut through the pastry sheets and drizzle with the sugar-honey syrup. Let it stand for 5-7 hours,so that the syrup is completely absorbed by the fillo sheets. You can garnish it with powdered pistachios as shown in the picture above. 

eğlenebilir !!! ( enjoy yourself )