Jazz up your bean salad with these Turkish touches

One of my favorite people to cook with is my friend Onur Buyukdegirmenci. A chef from Turkey, Onur used to help me with events while making his career change to work in real estate.

Busy and successful, Onur now spends most of his time showing homes all over Manhattan, but whenever possible, I steal him and his sommelier fiancée Niki away to come cook some of the best, unique dishes I’ve had the pleasure to eat.

Last night, Onur prepared sultan’s delight, a traditional Turkish plate of warm smoked eggplant purée garnished with braised lamb, brown butter and tomato sauce and a shower of green parsley. We served that with a buttery pilaf of basmati rice and barley along with this unique bean salad.

Bean salads are usually pretty blah — beans, acid and maybe some celery and onions. What makes this one special is the creamy layer of tahini sauce, hearty eggs and the addition of onions, seasoned with lemony purple sumac and parsley. If you have ever eaten kebabs at a Turkish restaurant, this typical onion garnish usually makes its way to the plate. Onur showed me how a famous Turkish kebab chef prepares the onion mixture by squeezing the juices from the onions before seasoning them.

Standing in the kitchen beside Onur, I always learn something new. Last night our friend Roshanak, another wonderful Persian home cook, joined us at the party and we mused about how incredibly rich and diverse the foods of the Middle East are from country to country, region to region and city to city. Despite Iran, Israel and Turkey being so close and using so many of the same ingredients and produce, subtle differences like specific seasonings and spices make the food so different. Opportunities to break bread, appreciate and enjoy each other’s company and traditions are the key crossing bridges.

Onur’s Turkish white bean salad
Serves 8-10 as a side dish

1 bag dry white cannellini beans, soaked overnight and drained

1 cup prepared tahini sauce*

4 firm tomatoes, cut in half then thinly sliced

8 eggs, hardboiled and peeled

2 small red onions, thinly sliced

Splash white vinegar

2 tbps. freshly chopped parsley

Sumac, to taste

Kosher salt, to taste

Fill a large pot with cold, fresh water and add the drained beans. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook about 30 minutes until the beans are just tender but still retain a bite.

Drain the beans. Cool. Toss with tahini sauce and a splash of vinegar. Set aside.

Quarter the eggs lengthwise. In cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel, squeeze the onions until all of the juices are extracted. Do this by making a beggars’ purse and use all your muscles to squeeze. Toss the onions with parsley and sumac to taste.

Toss the tomatoes in with the beans and season to taste with salt. Place the bean salad in a large bowl. Decorate the perimeter of the salad with hardboiled eggs and in the center, add a mound of the seasoned onions. Set aside in the refrigerator for up to two hours, covered with a damp cloth or paper towel, or serve immediately.

*If you can’t find tahini sauce in the store, blend one cup of tahini paste with two cloves of garlic, the juice of two lemons and salt. Slowly drizzle in water until a creamy, thick consistency is reached. The addition of water will cause the sauce to seize up and break before it becomes creamy again.