What about dinner cooked in 2 min? I am not talking fancy gadgets. I only mean humble little fishes plus a bunch of greens, sharp knife and red-hot oven! The meal that comes as a result is so quick that before you know you become addicted to making and eating it. I can tell because I have been cooking it all winter. And instead of simply giving you the recipe I want to share with you three simple principles I follow when I make a quick dinner (=very often).

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Do you believe in telepathy? The mere possibility of communication without sending or receiving a message through any medium known to the human kind? I would have been much more sсeptical about this idea unless me and my mother-in-law communicated that way. We don’t see each other often: she is not leaving the kitchen of her countryside restaurant, and I am keeping duty at my kitchen in Istanbul. We rarely talk on the phone. But too often when I come to the countryside I discover she’s cooked exactly the same dish I made in Istanbul the day before.

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This classic Turkish red lentil soup is a handful of lentils, a carrot, a potato and an onion. You sweat the whole bunch in a pressure-cooker until it mashes, then puree it with an immersion blender and eventually thicken with a roux. How special does it get? Well, this soup has rescued me more than once.

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There is a certain decadence to compote. The word is French, and so is the custom of serving it as a light dessert. When I think compote, I picture a long late night dinner accompanied by an intellectual conversation in French and a cake with compote served at the end. Otherwise, a hybrid of beverage, cold soup and dessert, compote is a rare animal on the modern-day tables.

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When buying beets, have you ever though with happens its beautiful lush greens? The ones with the purple stem, purple veins and the leaves green as the forest at a summer dawn. Some of them may be fed to the animals, but a lot of the greens get tossed. A few weeks ago I was walking through the Kadıköy market at an early hour when the vendors are still setting their stalls. I spotted a huge box of assorted stems and leaves, and asked the greengrocer (who was peeling off very edible, but not so good looking layers from the leeks) what was going to happen with them. “We are tossing them”. I recognized beet greens and black radish stems in the box. “Can I take some?” “Go for it. What are you going to do with them?” I did know make my mind, “Soup? Börek?” For me it was ridiculous he even asked: what would you not do with the greens like that? “I took a bunch of mixed greens and headed home.

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I don’t know how about you, but I end up with piles of green leaf plants, stems and root vegetable tops in my fridge. After a week of cooking and shopping I would have more celery stalks that I can use for my soups or salads. Any celeriac (celery root) here in Istanbul comes with the stalks packed with the vitality that makes them curl: you would not recognize the guys if you just know the thick celery from a supermarket. Then chard: its juicy leaves make a perfect börek filling, but what about the thick stems? When possible, I slice them paper-thin and add to the filling, but what if you don’t want too much crunch? Also leeks. “They are onions in disguise!”, I announced once to my laughing mother-in-law. “How can you make them a star in your dish?” I asked her referring to the only zeytinyağlı I can’t bring myself to eating - leeks braised in olive oil. And yet, every time at the market they deceive me with their looks, and I buy more than I can use.

With so much leftover leaves, stalks and stems in your fridge, you should get decisive! I resort to throwing only when things turn inedible, and I have made enough stock to take all the room in my freezer. So why not a vegetable potage?

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