Week 10 -- Turkish Stew

First, I do need to admit that I actually know nothing about Turkish foods.  I needed a name for this soup, and as it contains Turkish apricots and some common Turkish spices, that's what I went with.

This soup is spicy in a good way:  warm spices, not hot, and it's a great excuse to eat dried apricots (not that you really need a reason -- they're so good!).

If you are a follower of Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen, this soup ticks off a lot of boxes: legumes, greens, vegetables, fruit, spices.  If you aren't a Daily Dozen devotee, you should head right over to Nutritionfacts.org and read up on it, then download the app to make healthy eating feel like a game.

Look for dried apricots that don't have additives like sugar, sulfur, preservatives. 

They will probably be ugly.  Pretty fruits have been treated with chemicals.

You could probably chop the apricots with a knife, but scissors make the job easy.

I'm reusing a photo of how to make collard ribbons.

Cut out the stems.  Stack leaves.
Roll them, then slice into ribbons. 
Make one final cut down the middle of the rolls for shorter ribbons.

Can you smell the spices?

This soup is flavorful and spicy, but not as sweet as you'd expect.

Turkish Stew

1 red onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups red lentils

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 small bunch collard greens (about 1/2 pound), cut into ribbons

9 cups water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground coriander (I ground it in my coffee grinder)

1. Heat a thin layer of water in a soup pot.  Add the onions and water saute until cooked.

2. Add lentils, apricots, and water.  Let simmer about 10 minutes.

3. Add sweet potatoes.  Add collard ribbons and spices.  Let simmer about 15 more minutes until sweet potatoes are soft and spices have had a chance to settle in.

Makes about 6 servings.