Potato Roasted with Vegetables

Summer is here and summer is a perfect time to enjoy vegetables it brings along.

Bell peppers, eggplants, potatoes roasted together with olive oil based dressing with garlic and herbs can be a perfect dish on their own as well as a side dish to meats or poultry.

Once veggies are all sliced and mixed with dressing (can be prepared in advance), it takes about an hour to roast them in the oven.

Roasting doesn't require much of attention, just stirring from time to time. So I consider this dish easy to prepare.

Lithuanian Borscht (Cold Borscht)

Are you suffering from hot weather like me? When outside feels like in the oven there is no better food to eat than cold soup. Lithuanian borscht is a nice refreshing buttermilk based cold soup you can put together without any extra hassle and then enjoy it sitting on the patio.

The real trick to Lithuanian borscht is to find good butter milk – it should be original buttermilk which hasn't been flavored with any tastes, not salted and not sweetened. I used plain unsweetened kefir (buttermilk) from Lifeway and it worked out perfectly.

The rest of ingredients: vegetables (beets, cucumber and greens) and hard boiled eggs, are easy to get and not pricey at all. And btw, even though this soup is called a “borscht”, the only thing it has in common to other borschts, I guess, is the color.

Cabbage and Cucumber Salad

This is one of my favorite salads for fresh young cabbage – fast made slaw with eggs and cucumbers seasoned with fresh dill and mayo to taste.

Usually I take small white head cabbage or a half of it, however it will be the same good with red cabbage (the color will look interesting in this case too :) ) or napa.

Don't forget to cool down hard boiled eggs before adding them to the salad – it is not recommended to mix fresh vegetables with hot ingredients.

Green Beans Fried with Butter

This recipe is one of the simplest ways of cooking green beans: just boil them, then drain and fry until ready; and then you have nutritious side dish which will be nice addition to your main dish course.

Preparation of this dish takes less than 20 mins and can be split in 2 parts to help you save some time: boil beans in advance and them fry right before serving to keep them warm and fresh.

Fried green beans go well with fried or grilled meats: steaks, cutlets, schnitzels, chops, etc. However they can be also served as separate no-meat dish.

Tomatoes and Cucumbers Summer Salad

After all those snow emergencies, I've got hungry for some fresh vegetables. Lucky for me there are plenty in the nearby grocery store: despite there is no summer here yet.

So I decided to make simplest salad I know: summer salad with tomatoes and cucumbers, seasoned with chopped fresh dill and green onions, and dressed with oil.

This salad is perfect for any meat or poultry main dish. And even though it is not quite summer yet, I hope you are the same lucky like me and can buy fresh tomatoes and cucumbers right now to enjoy taste of fresh vegetables and replenish your body with some vitamins.

Eggplant Rolls

I don't have much to say about this recipe, it mostly says for itself: eggplants and tomatoes - main ingredients – are good combination and garlic doesn't make it any worse.

This recipe isn't much hassle to prepare and ingredients don't cost much; so you can easy get to advised 5 servings of vegetables per day and even enjoy it.

Eggplant rolls taste better while fresh, so prepare them right before serving.

Fried Potato with Porcini Mushrooms

Potatoes fried with porcini mushrooms is one of the most delicious lenten recipes. It is also very-very russian. I believe russians eat that kind of food for centuries :)

This main dish contains no meat, however mushrooms perfectly substitute meat in both - taste and nutrients - they contain vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre while are low on fat and easily absorbed carbohydrates.

All of that make potato fried with mushrooms and onions perfect main dish for Lent. Needles to say what any combination of potatoes with mushrooms can't taste bad, so I really hope you will enjoy this dish just like I do.

Boiled Buckwheat

I think buckwheat grain is one of the most nutritious and healthy foods one can ever eat: it is very rich on iron, zink, other minerals and vitamins which makes it perfect food for kids and women during pregnancy.

It is also low on carbohydrates comparing to other grains (and for those which it does have body needs long time to digest);for me that makes boiled buckwheat (straight or with a bit of milk) perfect food for days when I want to eat a bit less and exercise a bit more: it makes you feel full longer without eating too much.

Boiled buckwheat is a perfect side for any kind of beef dishes: I personally prefer to serve it with beef stroganoff or minced beef cutlets; however it can be served as a stand alone dish. Boiled buckwheat grain with milk is very popular breakfast food for children and adults in countries of East Europe.

Deruny (Potato Pancakes)

Potato pancakes, prepared from fresh chopped or grated potatoes, onions, eggs and flour, are commonly associated with various cuisines of Europe. In Ukraine they are called “deruny”, in Russia and Belarus “draniki”; similar recipes can be found in Polish, German, Austrian, Czech cuisines.

Potato pancakes are usually a main no meat dish for lunch or breakfast; it tastes good topped with sour cream or mushroom sauce.

Even though potato pancakes are good enough as a separate dish, they can be also served as a side dish for vegetable or meat main dish course.

Uzvar (Dried Fruit Kompot)

Uzvar is a kompot made from dried fruits: mainly apples, pears and prunes, however various recipes include raisins, dried sour cherries and even dried apricots.

Even though this drink is traditionally served to Christmas Eve dinner in some countries of West Europe (e.g. Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania), I really can't find a reason why it can't be a great better choice to drink before all those sugary-artificially prepared sodas people consume so much those days.

Uzvar, or as it also called in ex-USSR countries – Kompot made from Dried Fruits, is very refreshing, tasty and easy to do. I highly recommend this drink to everybody, prepare it for your kids - they will love it!

Eggplant Paste Appetizer

Here is an eggplant paste recipe how my grandma used to do it: all full of vegetable goodness, and I love its taste (still a bit hard to get it taste exactly the way how grandma's is but I am working on it).

Baked eggplant paste makes a perfect side dish for meat or vegetable entrees, as well as it can be a great appetizer - just pour a bit on a whole wheat cracker, or spread it over a piece of bread and get a healthy snack.

Prepared eggplant paste can be stored in a fridge for several days and it tastes good cooled.

Sponge Cake with Apples

Autumn always comes with tastes of a harvest: for me autumn tastes like apples, even though you can get them at any grocery shop any time of the year.

Since I've got my apples, a big pack of them actually, my house keeps smelling like autumn. During last weeks we had a duck with apples for a dinner, baked apples for a snack and even kompot with apples and cranberries.

I've also prepared this sponge cake with apples and light hit of cinnamon last sunday and now I can share this easy recipe with you, so you can enjoy the taste of autumn with me.

Banana Milkshake

Even though the title says this it recipe for Banana Milkshake, this is very simple recipe can be used to prepare pretty much any kind of fruit milkshake – just replace bananas with strawberry or raspberries and vanilla ice-cream with any kind of ice cream you like and enjoy your very own taste of a milkshake.

I should also mention what milk and ice-cream (main ingredients of a milkshake) are good sources of calcium, which is an important component of a healthy diet. It is especially for children. Which makes milkshakes good drinks for kids: not only is it tasty so they love it, but also is nutritious.

So, whatever your goal is – to make sure your kid gets the needed amount of calcium or to remind yourself about the times when you were a kid - make a milkshake (it is easy)!

Zucchini Pancakes

I prepared pancakes from zucchini, but they are also good prepared of any other kind of summer squash or even mix of them.

Soft and tender vegetable pancakes, they are easy and very fast to do. Perfect dish for breakfast or lunch, or for any other “hunger feeding” quick food break.

Odds are your kids will love them (even though they consist of pure vegetables)!

Greek Salad

This is the recipe of Greek Salad how I used to eat it. This is prepared of mix of fresh vegetables with a light hint of Greece in mix of oregano with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, enriched by taste and texture of feta cheese.

Please note, the recipe I use can be very far related to the original greek recipe. I never been to Greece and mostly enjoy Greek cuisine from what I can find in local shops and restaurants.

This particular recipe describes the way how Greek Salad is prepared in Russia, so maybe it should be called Russian Greek Salad instead :) Enjoy!

Crepes with Fresh Cheese

If you've got some crepes left or thinking about how to make them more tasteful and nutritious then stuff them with fresh cheese. You can prepare stuffed crepes and store them for future in the freezer. After, all you have to do to get a fresh and tasty crepe with cheese is to get it out of freezer and warm it up.

The only hassle with this recipe can be to find (or prepare) good quark-kind fresh white cheese. Try Russian, Ukrainian or Polish shop if you can't locate it local supermarket.

Crepes with Fresh Cheese are good for breakfast or snack, also they make perfect food for kids.

Lazy Varenyky (Fresh Cheese Lazy Dumplings)

Lazy Varenyky (lazy vareniki, fresh cheese lazy dumplings) is a dish of Ukrainian cuisine. To prepare it you will need fresh white cheese (tvorog, quark) which can be hard to find in a local shop, so try Ukrainian / Russian / Polish shops for more luck.

The word “lazy” in the name reflects the fact how fast and easy this dish is to prepare. It takes less then 20 mins from putting simple ingredients together till Fresh Cheese Lazy Dumplings are ready to be served, and that includes boiling.

Lazy Varenyky dish is good choice for children breakfast: they include fresh cheese - a good source of the calcium for growing body. And of course they are tasty, your kids will love them!

Napa Slaw with Eggs (Cabbage Salad)

You can take any kind of cabbage for this salad, however I prefer napa cabbage (one of variants of Chinese cabbage), as it is more soft and tasteful.

In general this salad is easy to make (as I think any slaw is), very fast to do and of course is nutritious: napa cabbage is rich on vitamin A/Carotene and vitamin C.

If you use napa cabbage, don't make more salad than you will eat for one meal, napa cabbage salads are best to be eaten fresh and loose taste after stored in fridge.

Fresh Cheese Pancakes

Fresh Cheese Pancakes are good choice for the family breakfast or snack. Fresh cheese is a source of the calcium, therefore this is very good food for kids whose growing body needs a lot of calcium.

Cheese pancakes are very fast and very easy to do. The only hassle with this recipe can be to find good quark-kind fresh cheese. So try Russian, Ukrainian or Polish shop if you can't locate it local supermarket.

Fried Zucchini With Garlic

Zucchini itself is low in calories and contains useful amounts of folate, potassium, manganese and vitamin A. Garlic is also very health-giving ingredient. And they both are combined in this fast to do and easy to do recipe.

Fried Zucchini with Garlic is very good on its own as a snack or an appetizer, however it is also perfect for poultry and meat entrees as a side dish.

Reduce amount of garlic if you are worried about a breath, but I really advice to keep garlic in, this dish isn't so tasty without it.

Fried Potatoes Side Dish

I think fried potatoes is one of the first dishes I learned how to do myself when I was a kid, well besides sandwiches of course. So believe me it is easy to do.

Fried potato is great side for any kind of fried main dishes: meat, poultry, fish or even vegetables. And unlike the french-fries (which is kind of similar food) fried potato use much smaller amount of salt and oil, so I believe it is a bit more healthy.

Crêpes (Thin Pancakes)

But in any case you will need to prepare crêpes first and that requires agility and some kind of training. Read how I prepare them in the step-by-step guide.

Potato Cakes in Tomato-Mushroom Sauce

Potato, mushrooms and onions are almost all you need to make potato cakes in tomato-mushroom sauce.

Original vegetables only (no-meat) main dish recipe which doesn't require a side dish.

Fresh Carrots & Garlic Salad

And again carrots with a lot of vitamin A and carotin. The best way to keep those nutrients from “dying” while cooking is to eat them fresh. And garlic can't spoil it anyhow.

Enjoy Fresh Carrots & Garlic Salad as an healthy addition to your meat meals.

Potato Puree (Mashed Potatoes)

Potato puree, or you may also call it mashed potatoes, is a perfect side dish for any meat or fish or poultry entree.

It is perfect choice before fried potatoes especially for those whose digestive system needs a bit of support.

Fried Broccoli

You may want to try Fried Broccoli Side if you find taste of boiled ones not that exciting. It is not much harder to prepare but you get more rich taste.

Consult the step-by-step photo recipe for that great side dish.

Carrots and Stewed Mushrooms Salad

Here comes the first recipe of this blog: step-by-step photo recipe of amazing and nutritious salad with carrots and mushroom sauce.

This salad is a perfect dish itself, there is not meat used to prepare it, just a lot of mushrooms and vegetables, however it can be served as a side dish for any meat, poultry or fish main dish if you like.

Carrots and Stewed Mushrooms Salad tastes good as warm as well as cooled, leftover can be easily stored in fridge. Hope you will like it!