Turkish cuisine has a number of vegetable dishes and a wide variety. One of the things that makes Turkish cuisine so great is the extent to which it's seasonal. With a few exceptions, almost every dish can only be found in the season in which its primary ingredients are freshest, and requests for a dish out of season are often met with confusion.

The highlights of Turkish vegetarian and vegan cuisine are dolma and sarma, in which just about everything can be stuffed (though of course stuffed vine leaves are most common). The cuisine tends to be olive oil based as well, giving an extra light flavor to so many delicious fresh veggies.

Turkey has an incredibly varied landscape, from rolling hills to barren dessert to seaside beauty. As a result, it has a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and they’re all made use of in cooking. Many Turks eat what is essentially "accidentally" a vegan diet, particularly on the Black Sea coast where herbs and vegetables are so common and meat is often considered an expensive delicacy.

But we promised you 5 specific dishes that you can make easily at home, so here they are – 5 delicious Turkish vegan dishes. And one more note for you meat lovers out there – these dishes are excellent even without meat, but if you’re desperate to add some then there are ways to make that happen as well.