My Karatay Days – Black Coconut Salad with Arugula

Dear Sinem Karatay continues to share her diet and impressions with us. Let's see what happened this week?

Yesterday I finished my 2nd week on the Karatay Diet. I lost only 1 kilo this week, I lost 2 kilos in 3 weeks in total. Karatay Diet does not promise to lose weight fast, but losing 2 pounds last week and losing only 1 kilo this week upset me. But we never get discouraged, we continue at full throttle. I feel healthier, I may not have been healthier in 2 weeks, but let me mention a few effects. I went to the dermatologist 2-3 weeks before I started the Karatay Diet, still complaining about my acne on my back like a teenager. He offered me a few creams, a soap, and I started using a medicine. It's not a hormonal drug, it's just some kind of antibiotic to cure the inflamed pimples. The doctor told me to drink plenty of water during this process, and to stop taking this medication as soon as my acne subsided. He said if it comes out again, you will drink it again. Before I started the Karatay Diet, most of my acne was gone. Since I started the diet, I have only had 2 new acne and they went away quickly. I don't drink medicine anymore. I just wash with that soap to get rid of my scars and apply my night cream, that's all. However, I was afraid that all the walnuts-hazelnuts-almonds I ate might cause acne. In addition, I have been suffering from constipation for a long time and have been able to go to the toilet comfortably since I started the Karatay Diet.

In summer, one does not feel like eating heavy meals anyway. That's why it's not so difficult to diet, eat beautiful vegetables, eat a lot of salad. I generally prefer to eat different salads in the Karatay Diet. Most of the time I create a salad of whatever I have at home. When I was looking for legumes in the market last week, when I saw organic dried cowpea, I bought it immediately. Dried cowpea is very suitable for salads, its pizz is very good. But I had never made it myself before, at least my mother had soaked it and boiled it, so I put it in a salad. Well, when you live alone, everything is up to you :) It's best if I continue to write and explain the materials:

Arugula Dried Bean Salad

• 1 cups boiled dried kidney beans
• 1 bunch of arugula
• A pinch of parsley, 1 pinch of dill
• 2 red pepper
• 1 grated carrot (if desired)
• 1 pinch green onion
• Apple cider vinegar
• Limon
• ground rock salt
• Extra virgin olive oil

Mix 1 glass of boiled and cooled black-eyed peas with chopped arugula, parsley and dill, add 1-2 red peppers, 1 grated carrot if desired, a pinch of green onion, add apple cider vinegar, lemon, a little rock salt and olive oil and mix thoroughly. Your salad is ready :)

As I do with all legumes, when I get up in the morning, I put 1 glass of dried cowpea in a pot, add enough water to cover it and heat it on the stove until it starts to boil. Then I turned off the stove, closed the lid of the pot and left the house. When I got home in the afternoon, I was pretty scared because the water I had left in the cowpea had turned black! I immediately drained that water, washed the cowpeas, and filled a new bowl of water to boil. In the meantime, I was still wondering if everything was alright, I looked on the internet a bit, it turns out it was very natural. Then I asked my mother and Nilay, and we concluded that it was normal. Anyway, after adding the new water, I boiled the black-eyed peas for about 15 minutes. It was well cooked now, I turned off the heat. Again, the water was black :) I also drained it and washed it with a little cold water so that it could cool down and get rid of that black water thoroughly. Then I put the black-eyed peas in the cupboard to become a salad in the evening.

The things that go best with boiled black beans are arugula, vinegar and green onions. Actually, the fried rice is also nice, but I think it's better that way, let's keep the fried beans for the beans :) I said, I usually make salads by thinking about what I have at home and which one will suit each other. This is how it was, except a little arugula. You can add as much black-eyed peas as you want to this salad. Anyway, salads are usually a decision of the eye :) I made half a measure, not according to the whole measure I gave, because I was alone. Actually, I was going to grate the carrots, but since I will eat it alone, I decided that the salad would be too much. At dinner, I was completely satisfied with a big plate of salad and 1 bowl of yogurt.

By the way, it is best to make yogurt at home, but I discovered a yogurt, it is sold in boxes like cans in the markets, it says village type or home type on it. There are also well-known brands. It's sourness, not being solid, consistency... It has become my favorite with everything. She is not looking for my mother's home yogurts. I advise.

Written and Photographed by Sinem Çomarlı