{"id":26573,"date":"2026-04-28T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=26573"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:48:03","slug":"mercimek-koftesi-turkish-lentil-balls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2026\/04\/28\/mercimek-koftesi-turkish-lentil-balls\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercimek K\u00f6ftesi (Turkish Lentil Balls)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26574\" style=\"width: 178px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Koftesi.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26574\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26574\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Koftesi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"168\" height=\"299\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26574\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo by Alya Swerling<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By Alya Swerling, VRG Intern<\/p>\n<p>Mercimek K\u00f6ftesi is a traditional Turkish dish made from red lentils and fine bulgur, commonly served as a flavorful appetizer.<\/p>\n<p><em>Ingredients:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>1 cup red lentils<\/p>\n<p>1\u00bd cups water<\/p>\n<p>1 cup fine bulgur<\/p>\n<p>1 small onion (finely chopped)<\/p>\n<p>2 Tablespoons tomato paste<\/p>\n<p>1 Tablespoon red pepper paste<\/p>\n<p>1-2 Tablespoon(s) olive oil<\/p>\n<p>1 teaspoon cumin<\/p>\n<p>\u00bd teaspoon black pepper<\/p>\n<p>Salt to taste (use lightly)<\/p>\n<p>3-4 green onions (chopped)<\/p>\n<p>\u00bc cup fresh parsley (chopped)<\/p>\n<p>Lettuce leaves (for serving)<\/p>\n<p>Lemon wedges (optional)<\/p>\n<p><em>Instructions:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Rinse the lentils and add them to a pot with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until soft and most of the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes).<\/p>\n<p>Turn off heat and stir lentils into the bulgur. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes until the bulgur softens.<\/p>\n<p>In a pan, heat a small amount of olive oil and saut\u00e9 the chopped onion until soft.\u00a0Add tomato paste and pepper paste, cooking for a few minutes to deepen the flavor.<\/p>\n<p>Mix the onion mixture into the lentil-bulgur mixture. Add cumin, black pepper, and a small amount of salt. Mix well.<\/p>\n<p>Let the mixture cool slightly, then stir in green onions and parsley. Shape into small oval balls using your hands. Serve on lettuce leaves with lemon wedges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alya Swerling, VRG Intern Mercimek K\u00f6ftesi is a traditional Turkish dish made from red lentils and fine bulgur, commonly served as a flavorful appetizer. Ingredients:\u00a0 1 cup red lentils 1\u00bd cups water 1 cup fine bulgur 1 small onion (finely chopped) 2 Tablespoons tomato paste 1 Tablespoon red pepper paste 1-2 Tablespoon(s) olive oil [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26575,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26573\/revisions\/26575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}