Oven-Roasted Herbed Redskin Potatoes

I think any kind of potatoes can be cooked this way, however red skin ones are the best here. You can take big potatoes and slice them in smaller wedges or smaller ones and cook them whole or sliced in halves.

Vary amount of herbs as well as herbs themselves to your taste, in additional to rosemary, thyme, oregano you can use parsley, dill, black pepper, etc; I would just advise to keep rosemary in - it goes great with potatoes.

Over-roasted herbed redskin potatoes can be a no-meat dish on itself or you can accompany a meat entry with it as a side dish.

Vegetable Soup-Puree with Mushrooms

If you are looking for easy to cook recipe for soft pureed soup with vegetables, mushrooms and cream this is it.

Boil vegetables, add fried onions and mushrooms and blend it all together with heavy cream. By the way, using hand blender makes cooking of this soup much easier.

If you want soup-puree to be more liquid, keep water left from boiling vegetables and add it to the soup at the end to receive desired thickness.

Semolina Porridge (Mannaya Kasha)

Mannaya Kasha is one of foods associated for russian people with their childhood. When I was little I was always told it is rich on nutrients and required for healthy kid growth - every kid knew that to grow strong and healthy they need to finish up their plate with semolina porridge.

Just as a note: while researching for proper translation for this recipe, I stumbled on information that semolina porridge isn’t recommended for kids younger than 3 years (which was new to me) as it contains high amount of gluten and also phytin. But because it also has a lot of proteins and high content of vitamins E and B1 it is very good for kids after 3 year old who have no gluten intolerance.

While cooking it is important to stir mannaya kasha all the time (I use whisk for this and it helps a lot), or you will get clots and no kid likes them in their mannaya kasha.

Russian Zucchini Paste

This is recipe of zucchini paste from my mom: easy to cook, contains only vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes and onions) and is very-very tasty.

I usually eat this paste on bread toast, for breakfast or as a snack; however it is also a nice side dish to help increase vegetable servings in your daily diet.

Zucchini paste can be served warm or cooled down.

Ukrainian Sour Cherry Dumplings (Varenyky z Vyshniamy) Recipe

I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw sour cherries (pitted!) in the Andersons grocery store. It doesn’t happen that often to me here, in US. So I couldn’t simply leave that store without my portion of sour cherries...

Of course, we enjoyed them plain with a bit of sugar, and also made some cherries with whipped cream dessert (didn’t make any pictures of this one to post a recipe, shame on me), however most of sour cherries went to ukrainian sour cherry dumplings - “varenyky z vyshniamy”, and for this one we made plenty of pictures.

With mentioned amount of ingredients you will get about 50-60 dumplings. Most probably you will not need to cook all of them right away - so just freeze remaining potion of dumplings for later use (first put wooden board with dumplings to the fridge until dumplings are frozen, then move them to a ziploc bag and store frozen). Frozen dumplings can be boiled right before serving, just like you usually do it.

Roast Brussels Sprouts

Roast brussels sprouts are great as a side dish or a snack. They don’t require much of attention while cooking: just clean sprouts, put them to a baking pan, toss with oil, salt and pepper and roast until ready.

You can cook them to your liking: increase temperature a bit and you get crunchy outside and soft inside, decrease temperature and increase cooking time - get softer sprouts.

Hope you like them!

Tomatoes Stuffed with Fresh Cheese Recipe

These campari tomatoes stuffed with fresh quark cheese, chopped greens and garlic can be nice addition to any celebration table or a cookout: they look festive, taste good and can be easily eaten with fingers.

If you can’t find quark cheese (sometimes called farmers cheese, or fresh white cheese, or tvorog in russian) it may work with feta cheese, but I like it more with quark.

Seeds and pulp from tomatoes as well as top parts - once removed - are not needed for this recipe. You can discard them, or use in some other dish.

Many kind of stews and soups would only benefit from fresh tomatoes. I used seeds and juice from this batch to marinate a nice ribeye steak.

String Beans Fried with Eggs

Yet another recipe for fried green string beans, now accompanied by scrambled eggs.

Any kind of string beans will work good for this one: green or yellow, thin or thick, whole or cut - just adjust boiling time so they are cooked enough but not too soft when done.

I don’t think there can be too much eggs used when cooking string beans. Even though there are only 2 on the picture and I ended up using 3, but actually think 4 would be even better, so just cook to your taste!

Eggplants with Tomato Basil Sauce and Parmesan

Eggplants fried in flour and egg coating are good on their own as a no-meat main course, appetizer or snack. But they can also be served as a side dish.

Tomato sauce with basil and garlic is a good addition to fried eggplants; it adds a bit of spiciness to plain taste of eggplants.

And parmesan goes great with that combination too.

Tomato and Basil Sauce

This light tomato based sauce will add a hint of mediterranean cuisine to any dish.

It goes great with fried or grilled vegetables (e.g. zucchini and eggplants); seafood (mussels and shrimps) and meats; it also can be served as pasta sauce.

Sweet tomatoes are the best fit this recipe. If you prefer to remove seeds, choose pulpy tomatoes, it will be easier.

Boiled Cauliflower with White Sauce

Adding a sauce will make almost any food more interesting, that is why sauces were invented after all, and they are good not only with meats. Vegetables may use some sauce help as well.

So here it goes: cook boiled (yes simply like this!) cauliflower and pour white sauce over it – you will get delicious dish, not a boring vegetables.

I came by this simple recipe while looking though old cook book released probably even before I was born (ironical enough its title translated from russian is “Modern homemade cuisine”) and I liked it. I think, you will find some more recipes adopted from this book later in this blog.

Eggs Fried with Tomato in Bell Pepper Ring

Looking for bright colors for fresh and energetic start of the day? This is your recipe: easy nutritious breakfast eggs and very fun looking also, when prepared accurately. I bet your kids will love them as much as I do.

I usually pick green peppers, they look good in combination with yellow-white eggs and red tomatoes. But any color will work here, just make sure you select big and nice shaped pepper.

Don't worry if egg white spills around the bell pepper ring, you can easily remove it later on with spatula.

Ukrainian Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream Dressing

This simple salad with tomatoes and cucumbers is very popular in Ukraine, and I don't see any reasons why it wouldn't be liked in any other country which grows tomatoes, cucumbers, dill and sour cream with onions and garlic.

As opposite to summer salad with tomato and cucumbers with vegetable oil based dressing, this one uses sour cream and mayonnaise.

If you are trying to cut on calories – use mix of sour cream and low calorie yoghurt, or just yoghurt as a base for dressing, but, believe me, this salad tastes the best with real sour cream.

Spicy Guacamole Dip

First time I tried this green dip, it was served as a side dish to something very spicy in mexican restaurant, and it didn't impress me. Probably, that was about color: I never seen avocados before and their bright green color seem almost artificial.

Nevertheless, I tried it and since then these unusual and very nutritious fruits are very important part of my diet: amusingly they have more potassium than bananas, have high fiber content and rich on vitamins E, B and K.

This variant of guacamole is a bit spicy. If you want to make it mild: either increase amount of avocados or reduce amount of serrano peppers and onion; adding sour cream can help reduce hotness as well.

Russian Lenten Mushroom Soup

This soup doesn't include any meat, it is based on mushrooms and have vegetables (carrot, parsley and celery roots, potato) as well as pearl barley.

Such kind of mushroom soup is very popular in Russia. Various kind of mushrooms can be used in this recipe, but I must say fresh or frozen porcini are the best tasting ones, if you can find them, of course.

If you are not trying to follow Great Lent rules - my advise is don't skip on sour cream, 1 tablespoon of sour cream to the bowl of mushroom soup not only adds nutrients, but also gives the soup its unique rich taste.

Braised White Cabbage

Braised cabbage can be a nice meat-free dish on its own, however it also makes a good side dish for various meats, especially pork and sausages.

You can braise fresh white cabbage alone or mix of white cabbage with sauerkraut (1:1 proportion) to your taste. If you choose to use sauerkraut, rinse it with water before adding to the skillet.

Fresh tomatoes in this recipe can be replaced with tomato paste, if you don't want to spend time blanching and de-seeding tomatoes.

Russian Pancakes (Oladi) with Apple

This recipe is a step up for russian kefir based pancakes – oladi. My mom used to add slices of apple to oladi batter and that is the way how I prefer them – oladi with apple served warm with sour cream topping.

So the recipe is quite easy: prepare oladi batter, add slices of apple and fry pancakes.

This dish is a perfect choice for breakfast or brunch, or even fast prepared snack. I bet kids would love those pancakes as well. They taste good accompanied with a glass of kefir.

Boiled Potato with Sour Cream and Garlic

There is no easiest way to cook potato than boiling. You get tasty and nutritious dish fast and with literally no hassle: just clean it, put to the cooking pot, bring to boil and wait.

Young potato boiled skin on tastes especially good when dressed with several spoons of sour cream, seasoned with chopped dill and minced garlic.

If you don't have young small potatoes, use red skin ones, or any others. Clean potatoes before boiling, for young potatoes washing will be enough, old potato may need to be peeled.

Beet Salad with Prunes and Walnuts

Beet salad with prunes, walnuts and onions dressed up with mayo or sour cream or both is one of the traditional salads of ukrainian cuisine.

Also, this dish is one of the not many dishes which uses beets as a main ingredient.

It is very important to use sweet and rich red color beets for this salad. So, when buying beets scratch their skin with a nail: dark red pulp under skin is a sign of good beet, not pink and not white.

It is also important to use good quality walnuts; taste before you buy them: old walnuts can be bitter and using such will make you salad taste bitter as well.

Cauliflower Pancakes

This is my recipe in support of Faina's with Cucee Sprouts cauliholic addiction. I hope you will like it :)

Yet another vegetable pancakes recipe. These are usually healthier choice: they contain much less flour (comparing to usually flour-based pancakes) - batter mostly consist of vegetable goodness and, of course, a bit of eggs :)

I love cauliflower in any of its appearance, and I consider cauliflower pancakes to be one of the easiest and fun ways to cook it.

Russian Kefir Pancakes (Oladi)

Oladi, or thick pancakes prepared from kefir based batter, is traditional russian breakfast food. Batter is easy to assemble and whole dish doesn't take much time to cook.

Kefir gives a distinguishing taste to oladi, but it probably can be replaced with buttermilk in case you are having troubles finding kefir.

Oladi can be served plain or with some kind of a topping: jam, syrop or honey, as well as fresh fruits. I love oladi with sour cream.

Fried Cauliflower Florets

According to Wikipedia, cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate and vitamin C. And I think that positions cauliflower as a nutritional vegetable and important part of the daily diet.

My mom boils florets first and then fries with flour and eggs. I like taste of cauliflower fried this way more than just boiled, it is less watery, also eggs and flour bring up a nice addition to taste.

By the way, flour can be replaced with finely ground breadcrumbs, tastes good this way as well. I prefer using bread breading I prepare myself, rather than breading mixtures.

Potato Roast with Vegetables

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

Bell peppers, eggplants, potatoes roast 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 kefir – it should be original kefir which hasn't been flavored with any tastes, not salted and not sweetened. I used plain unsweetened kefir (can be replaced with 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.

Stuffed Egg Shells

Egg shells stuffed with mushrooms, eggs and onions mix is an appetizer I asked my mom to do for each celebration, we had, when I was little.

It is still my favorite dish; now I cook it myself when have enough time and special state of mind to stub some eggs and dice everything into little pieces :)

To get empty egg shells is the most tricky part in making stuffed egg shells: you may waste one or two eggs while learning to do so, just be brave and persistent.

You are lucky if chickens, which produced eggs you are planning on using to prepare this appetizer, have had enough calcium in their diet, that will make the whole deal with getting nice looking egg shell halves much more easier. Unfortunately, it wasn't a case for me: the shells of eggs I had were crushing when breathed on.

That didn't do any bad for taste (believe me!), just made pictures a bit less nice looking than I expected, but I hope you will still like the recipe enough to try it out.

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 carotene. 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!