Borscht. Delicious Ukrainian Vegetable Soup

Hi, my lovely readers!!! The weather in my country was quite nasty the past 2 days and I decided to make some comforting, filling and soothing soup for my family. So I decided to prepare borscht. If you are not familiar to this soup, I'll tell you that Borscht is a vegetable soup of Ukrainian origin, very popular in Eastern and European cuisines, including Armenia!!! I ate lots of Borscht in my childhood and I loved it, to tell the truth. :) :) :) This is a great way to incorporate lots of veggies into your diet. I love this soup for its amazing taste and, of course, for its excellent health benefits. Borscht is traditionally served with sour-cream or plain strained yogurt. You can serve it hot, warm or even cooled down, it is tasty anyway!!! You can make borscht with meat (mainly beef is used in my country, Armenia) or without it, so my vegetarian friends can also try to make this soup. I'm sure they'll like it! I like to serve it with a spoon-full of sour- cream or plain strained local yogurt and crispy croûtons!!! I hope you'll try this recipe one day and share your opinions with me. 

Now let's talk about the recipe.You'll need the following ingredient:

• cabbage (300 gr or about 3 cups shredded)
• carrots (2 medium size)
• beetroot (2 medium size)
• potatoes (4 medium size)
• tomatoes (3 medium size) or tomato paste (1-2 tablespoon)
• onion (1 small size, if you don't mind it in your soup, there are some people who can't tolerate it, including my husband :) :) :)
• garlic (3 cloves, I'm also using some young garlic, too)
• beef (500 gr, it's optional, if you are vegetarian don't use it)
• fresh herbs: coriander, dill, parsley
• Spring (green) onions (optional)
• Salt (to your taste)
• Black pepper (1/3 teaspoon), paprika (1 teaspoon), chili (1/3 teaspoon) - you can use more if you want your soup a little bit spicier, I can't because I have a toddler :) 
• cumin (1 teaspoon)
• bay leaf (2 leaves)
• vegetable oil (2 tablespoon)
• sour-cream or plain strained yogurt (1 tablespoon for each portion)

Now let's talk about the instructions step by step:

• If you are not a vegetarian and want to make the borscht with beef, first of all you should cut the beef into pieces and cook them for about 30 minutes.
• Chop finely the cabbage, the carrots, beetroot into thin and long stripes. Peel and cube the potatoes. Chop the herbs (the coriander, the dill and the parsley), the garlic and the onion, the spring onion into small pieces. 

• When the vegetables are are already cut heat a big pot on a medium heat, add the vegetable oil, the chopped onions, garlic and roast them for a few minutes. Then add the beef pieces (if you are using some) and chopped vegetables, half of the chopped herbs and spring onion (I am also using the green leaves of the young garlic). Season the veggie mixture with salt, black pepper, paprika, chili, cumin and roast them for another few minutes. 

•  Add the tomato paste (or the chopped tomatoes) and steam for a few more minutes.

•  Then finally add the broth (or water) up to the rim of the a (medium size) pot, the bay leaves and cook it on a low heat for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.

•  When the borscht is ready serve it in a bowl with sour-cream or plain strained yogurt and some crispy croûtons. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Have a fabulous weekend. Bye! :) :) :)

Buckwheat Porridge with Beef and Veggie Salad as a Side Dish

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog. Yesterday I made buckwheat porridge with beef and a colorful veggie salad as a side dish, and thought why not to share it with you. I love buckwheat, it is a highly nourishing, energizing and delicious food that can be used instead of rice or any other grain cereal. I know that buckwheat is not a grain, thus it contains no gluten and can be freely used by gluten sensitive people. Here is the picture of the final product! It was very easy and simple to make, it wasn't much time consuming either. Everyone who loves the flavor of taste of buckwheat and beef will certainly love the recipe, too. :) :) :)

Now let's talk about the recipe and the step by step instructions! You'll need the following ingredients:

• buckwheat (2 cups)
• beef (500 grams)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/3 teaspoon, use more if feel like it :))
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)
• vegetable oil (2 tablespoon)

For the veggie salad you'll need:

• tomatoes (2 medium size)
• cucumber (2 medium size)
• bell pepper (1 medium size)
• onion (1 small size)
• fresh herbs (whichever you like best, I am currently using:coriander, dill, parsley and (purple) basil)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon, use olive oil if you like it)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/4 teaspoon, you can use more)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)

Instructions, what you need to do:

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots with Fresh Young Garlic and Beetroot Salad

Hi my lovely readers! Here is a recipe for my vegetarian friends, Roasted Potatoes and Carrots with Fresh Young Garlic and Beetroot Salad as a side dish! It was very yummy and it was approved by my 2-year-old son! He ate it with a great pleasure, with a happy smile on his face!!! :) This is the picture of how it turned out. If you like roasted carrots as much as I do, you'll definitely love this recipe!

 Now let's talk about the ingredients and the step by step instructions. You'll need the following ingredients for the roasted potatoes and carrots:

• potatoes (6-7 medium size)
• carrots (2 medium size)
• green young garlic with leaves (leaves will be used in the beetroot salad) (1 piece)
• vegetable oil (use olive oil if you like, 2 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)

For the beetroot and lettuce salad you'll need:

• lettuce (1 small bunch)
• beetroot (1 medium size)
• coriander and dill (a small bunch)
• green onions (2-3 pieces)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• vinegar (1 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/3 teaspoon, use more if you like spicier, I can't I have a toddler )
• paprika (1/2 teaspoon)
• chili (I'm using a pinch, because of my toddler, use more if you feel like it)

Step by step instructions:

Chicken Soup with Potatoes, Rice and Carrots

Hi, my lovely readers! The other day I made this soup and it turned out quite delicious! It was very tasty and flavorful. The chicken was very tender and was dissolving in my mouth, the rice, the potatoes and the carrots made a good combination together.  It was approved by my 2-year-old son. He ate a whole portion and I was amazed, sometimes he can be very picky about food! :) :) :)  It is quite an easy and simple recipe and it won't take much time either. This is the picture of how it turned out :) Below I'll tell you step by step instructions how to make it. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)

Now let's talk about the recipe! You will need the following ingredients:

• chicken ( a whole chicken about 1 kg)
• potatoes (4 medium size)
• carrots (1-2 medium size)
• garlic (2 cloves) and onion (1 medium size) (if you don't like garlic or onion, or both, don't use them :) :) :) )
• rice (3/4 cup)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/3 teaspoon, you can use more if you like)
• paprika (1 full teaspoon)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• fresh coriander and dill (a small bunch)

Now step by step instructions:

Crepes (Thin Pancakes) with Chocolate Sauce

Hello, my lovely readers! Here is another recipe for you. I made crepes with chocolate sauce yesterday for breakfast and my family members loved them. Usually on Sundays when I am not in a hurry and have much more time, I try to make something special for breakfast and enjoy it with my family. This is how my crepes turned out. I served them with chocolate sauce, orange and apple slices. You can improvise and serve them whichever way you like. If you don't want or you don' t have time to make the chocolate sauce you can easily use Nutella cream. These crepes will  also be perfect with banana slices and different berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. There can be endless variations :) :) :) I think they look quite appetizing! Don't you think so? :) :) :) Anyway, they had an amazing taste, I liked them a lot. :) :) :)

Now let's talk about the recipe. You will need the following ingredients to make the crepes:

• 2 medium range eggs
• 2 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil 
• 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of regular flour
• 1/3 teaspoon (granulated) vanilla (you can use vanilla extract if you have)
• a pinch of salt

Now let's start cooking step by step.

• Break the eggs into a big bowl, add th sugar, vanilla and the pinch of salt and mix them together with an electric mixer (or a regular whisk). Then add the milk, the warm water, vegetable oil and  mix them again. After that add the flour and the baking soda and mix them thoroughly for the last time. And the batter for the crepes is ready! This will take you only a few minutes. 

•  Now heat a non-stick frying pan (the smallest one you have) on a medium heat. After a few seconds when the pan is heated enough pour 1 scoop of the crepe batter into the pan, spread it all over the surface and pour the remaining dough back into the bowl. As the surface is very hot it will immediately bake a thin layer. You can't go wrong with this trick. I have learned it from my mum ! :)  If you don't pour back the remaining batter the crepes will be too thick. Nobody likes thick crepes. Right? :) :) :) Then put the pan back on the heat and cook it for a few seconds, turn it to the other side and cook for another few seconds.  

When the crepe is ready put it on the counter top or any other surface to cool down a little bit and only then stuck them on top of each other on a plate. By this way you'll avoid having crepes stuck on each other.

• When you have made all the crepes spread some chocolate sauce on top of each, fold it and place on a plate. You can easily use Nutella or other chocolate cream for this purpose.

For the chocolate sauce you will need:

• cocoa powder (2 full tablespoon)                                                                                     
• sour cream (200 ml)
• sweet condensed milk (200 ml)
• vanilla (1/2 teaspoon)

To make the chocolate sauce mix together the cocoa powder and the sour-cream, add the vanilla and continue to mix it until the cocoa powder is fully dissolved . Put on the low heat and bring to boil stirring continuously. When the chocolate sauce is thickened enough (it'll take 1-2 minutes) add the sweet condensed milk and turn off the heat. Stir the chocolate sauce until the condensed milk is fully dissolved into the mixture. As you have noticed I don't use any sugar in the recipe, because of the sweet condensed milk, it's very sweet and gives its sweetness to the chocolate sauce.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. I hope you had a wonderful day! See you next time. Bye! :) :) :)

Honey Roasted Chicken Wings with Potatoes

Hello everyone! Here is another recipe for you! Honey roasted chicken wings with potatoes are my family members' most required dish, they could eat it every single day and never complain about it :))). I know that this is not the healthiest dish in the world, but you can treat yourself from time to time, right? :))). Here is the picture of how it turned out! Quite appetizing, I think. Honestly, it tasted delicious, too.What do you thing about it? Share your opinions with me in the comment section bellow. I appreciate your opinions a lot! :) :) :) Now let's start talking about the recipe! It is so simple and easy to cook this recipe that you'll never fail doing that. All you have to do is to marinade the chicken wings the night before and the next day lay them in a cooking sheet with chopped potatoes and the oven will do the rest of the job! Just turn on the timer not to forget about it! :) :) :)

You will need the following ingredients:

• chicken wings (1 kg)
• potatoes  (1,5 kg)
• honey (1 tablespoon)
• vegetable oil (3 tablespoons)
• garlic (3-4 cloves)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
• paprika (2 teaspoons)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)

Now let's marinade the chicken wings. I recommend you to do this the night before. This way you will save lots of time. Besides, the chicken wings will have enough time to absorb the flavors of the garlic and all the seasonings. 

• Put your chicken wings in a bowl add chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of honey (honey will give an amazing flavor to the chicken wings and help them to roast perfectly), 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, salt black pepper, paprika and cumin. Give it a good stir. Close the bowl with a lid (or wrap it with a plastic food wrap) and put it into the fridge for the whole night. If you can't do that for some reason or have forgotten to do the night before you can just marinade it for at least 1-2 hours.

• The next day all  you have to do is to wash the potatoes thoroughly under the warm tap water and give it a good scrub and cut them in half. Slightly cut the potatoes across diagonally and vertically (not up th the end just slightly) so that the potatoes cook easily. Add salt, peppers and 1 or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and stir them thoroughly.
• Preheat your oven up to 200°C. Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge and place it on a cooking sheet together with potatoes like this. And put it in the oven for about an hour (maybe a little bit more, it depends on the oven you have), or until the chicken wings and the potatoes are perfectly cooked and roasted. Check after half an hour if they are half cooked and if needed turn them on the other side (in case your oven doesn't have an upper heater).

 I hope you enjoyed my recipe of honey roasted chicken wings with potatoes :) :) :) Have a fabulous weekend. Bye! :) :) :)

Mini Raisin Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce

Hello my lovely readers!!! Welcome to my blog! Here is another recipe for you! Pancakes are my family members' favorite breakfast. Today I made mini raisin pancakes (my son is obsessed with raisins at the moment), with different toppings: with chocolate sauce and banana, with orange and caster sugar.  My son preferred his mini raisin pancakes only with chocolate sauce on top (he doesn't like bananas). I personally liked my pancakes dipped in chocolate sauce with bananas and orange slices (all in one :) :) :). My husband's favorites were chocolate dipped pancakes with banana slices. Here how they looked like! :) :) :) Which one is your favorite?

Now let's talk about how to prepare these delicious mini pancakes. Here are the ingredients for this raisin pancakes and the chocolate sauce:

For pancakes:

• Greek yogurt (200 ml)
• baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
• granulated sugar (2 full tablespoon)
• flour (1 cup)
•  vanilla (1 teaspoon)
• eggs (3 middle range)
• raisin (3/4 of a cup)
• salt (a pinch)
• vegetable oil (for frying)

For the chocolate sauce:

• cocoa powder (2 tablespoon)                                                                                       
• milk (100 ml)
• granulated sugar (2 tablespoon)
• vanilla (1/2 teaspoon)
• butter (50 gr)

Now let's make the pancakes step by step:

Armenian Traditional Yogurt Soup "Spas"

Hello, my lovely readers! Today the weather was quite nasty and I decided to make something warm and comforting. After pondering upon the question what to make today, I understood that I haven't made my favorite traditional Armenian yogurt soup "Spas" for a long time. It turned out so tasty and flavorful that I decided to share it with you. I hope you'll make it one day!
Here is the picture of my bowl of "spas" yogurt soup. I served it with crunchy and crispy paprika flavored croûtons!  :) :) :)

 Here are the ingredients for the recipe: 

• Greek yogurt (1 kg = 4 cups)
• groats (1,5 cups)
• butter (50 gr)
• coriander (a small bunch)
• mint (a few)
• salt (to your taste)
• boiling water (4 cups)

Now let's start from the beginning step by step.

Rice and Raisin Plov

Hi everyone! Here is another recipe for you. Today's recipe is a traditional dish which is served on Easter. It is made of rice and raisins, I also made some lavash (traditional Armenian bread) crisps to go with it, which my grandmother used to do, and I loved them when  I was a kid. This dish is very easy and simple to make. It comprises only few ingredients but it is honestly very tasty. Here is the picture how it turned out! If you like rice with a slightly sweet taste, you are going to like it, I promise :) :) :)

Here are the ingredients for the recipe.  

• rice (2 cups)
• raisin (3/4 of a cup)
• vegetable oil (2 tablespoon)
• salt (1/2 tablespoon)
• lavash (Armenian traditional bread, it's like pita bread but much thinner) 

Now I'll tell you how to make it.

Colorful Vegetable Salad

Hello everyone! Thank you for visiting my blog. Today I'm going to share a very simple, fresh and crispy salad recipe with you. Here you can see the picture of the ready product. If you like fresh, crispy vegetables and croûtons on top  with a slightly tangy taste and flavor of lemon, you are going to like it :) :) :) But let's start from the beginning! :)

Here are the ingredients for the salad:

• Lettuce (a bunch)
• Carrots (2 medium size)
• Beet root (1 medium size)
• Lemon (1/2 lemon)
• Onion (1/2 medium size)
• Sweetcorn (1 can)
• Coriander (a small bunch)
• Spring onions (5 pieces)
• Mint (a small bunch)
• Vegetable oil (1 full tablespoon; use live oil if you like)
• salt (to your liking)
• black pepper (1/3 teaspoon)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• chili (I'm using a pinch, you can add a little bit more if you feel like it)

"Dolma", Cabbage Wraps

Hi my lovely readers! Yesterday I made an Armenian traditional dish, "Dolma" and decided to share the recipe with you. You can make dolma in different variations. In Armenian cuisine there are traditionally two types of dolma: wrapped dolma (usually grape or cabbage leaves are used) and stuffed dolma, in which different vegetables can be used, such as eggplants, peppers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and even quince and apples. Stuffings are traditionally made of mince beef or lamb combined with rice and herbs, such as basil, coriander and mint. But today I'm only going to talk about the wrapped dolma which is made of mince beef and cabbage leaves.

Here are the ingredients:

• mince beef (1,2 kg)
• cabbage (a big head of cabbage, 4 kg)
• rice (1 cup)
• herbs: leek (spring onions), coriander, dill, mint (use fresh basil too if you have, I am not using it, because I couldn't find any in the store)
• tomato paste (1 full tablespoon), you can substitute it with tomato ketchup
• you can also use sauteed onions (my husband doesn't like sauteed onions, so I have to escape it :) )
• vegetable oil (2 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (1/2 teaspoon, use more if you feel like it)
• paprika (1 tablespoon)
• chili (1/2 teaspoon)
• Water 

Now let's start making cabbage wrapped dolma.