Tag Archives: raw

5-star Salad

  I feel very honoured that I took the 1st place in the challenge held by Angie – Thenovicegardener.  This was my first time I won in food-blogging contest and hope not the last. Thank you all who stopped by my post and made comments about kulebyaka. The kulebyaka is so Russian and delicious pie, and I hope one of you will make it one day. 😉 Feel free to ask me if you have any questions about the kulebyaka preparation.
 Is it Friday yet? Oh, yes! That means one more party at Thenovicegardener. Does anybody would like ‘a 5-star salad’? Why 5-star, because it looks posh and the portion is so small like from a high-class restaurant. Moreover, it’s healthy and tasty.
 Actually, I made it from the cauliflower remains, when I cooked this soup. 🙂

5-star Salad

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: very easy
  • Print
Ingredients:
7-9 small cauliflower florets
1 red or yellow capsicum
1 small shallot
1 clove of garlic, smashed
1-2 tsp almonds, sliced and roasted
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp fresh parsley or basil, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil + 1/3 Tbsp butter
The dressing:
1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp small capers
freshly ground sea salt and white pepper
  1. In a frying pan heat the olive oil and butter. Add the onion and cook until soften but not browned for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add the capsicum, garlic, thyme, and sauté for 5 minutes or until the pepper is soft and browned. You can add the cauliflower along with capsicum and sauté it too, or leave it raw. Pick out and discard the garlic.
  3. In a small bowl or glass, combine all ingredients for the dressing and give it a good stir.
  4. Arrange the vegetables on a serving plate, sprinkle with almonds, parsley or basil; pour over the dressing.
Enjoy!
Salad
You can also check out these recipes, using the capsicums: the salad with chickpeas and Russian stuffed capsicums. 

Pancake Pie

 Today is ‘Forgiveness Sunday’, the last day of the ‘pancake festival’ (Butterweek) in Russia.
According to one old tradition, the more pancakes have been eaten during the Butterweek, the more successful will be the year.
As per another custom, a girl at the twilight, should took a pancake, went out and asked the first stranger his name. It was believed, that man’s name and look is similar to the future husband’s appearance. In case if the girl didn’t like the name ‘n’ look, she had to give a pancake to the guy. If she liked it, she had to eat a pancake herself. 🙂
 There are lots of pancakes varieties, with savoury or fruit fillings. Mine 3 favourites: with cottage cheese, sweet condensed milk and salmon 🙂
 Making pancakes could be really exciting and interesting, you can involve the whole family, invite friends and enjoy the holiday.
 You can surprise your family by preparing this delicious pancake pie!
Pancake_pie_caviar-3
What’s more, I decided to participate in Fiesta Friday, organized by Angie from TheNoviceGardener. I’m happy to be involved in such virtual parties and get new friends. 🙂

The basic Russian pancakes recipe
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
650ml full fat milk
50ml warm water
250g all-purpose flour
2 eggs
a good pinch of salt
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar
Preparation:
  • Break the eggs into large bowl, add salt and sugar, whisk.
  • Add the oil and milk, whisk again.
  • Sift the flour into the bowl, whisk thoroughly.
  • Add warm water and whisk to incorporate any lumps.
  • Pour lemon juice or vinegar into a spoon with baking soda on it (to dissolve the soda), quickly add it into the batter and whisk a couple of times.
  • While the mixture is resting (it allows the ingredients to blend together better), heat the pan; grease the pan with some oil, if needed.
  • Evenly coat the pan with the batter. Cook about a minute, then flip the pancake and cook for 15-30 seconds more.
  • Keep prepared pancakes in warm place.
 You can already enjoy the tastiest pancakes, dipping them into a raspberry preserve or hazelnut sauce, or prepare the pancake pie with salmon. It could be wonderful lunch or dinner for the weekend. Pancake_pie_caviar-2
Pancake pie with salmon and cream cheese
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
8 pancakes
200g salted or smoked salmon, always better homemade (find the recipe here)
120-150g cream cheese
2tbsp sour cream (substitute with crème fraîche, or single/double cream)
4-5 tbsp finely chopped dill
I used red caviare for the decoration, you can do it with salmon or just keep the top as is.
Assembling:
  • Blend the cream cheese with sour cream until smooth.
  • Cut the salmon into small cubes.
  • Arrange the first pancake on a plate, spread the cheese mixture and sprinkle with dill.
  • Cover with the second one. Spread some salmon on the pancake.
  • Cover with the third pancake.
  • Repeat all steps.
 Have a lovely pancake time!  🙂
  Pancake_pie_caviar-1

Name it!

So the salad which I’ve written about called as “broom” or “brush”, composed of raw vegetables, it evacuates the bowels as a broom (sweeps out all waste products from or digestive system).

 It has the specific flavour which may varies depending on a beetroot – more sweeter or rough. You need to press several times thinly shreded vegetables (raw!) – that’s it! And if you don’t like in a least add some lemon juice. But here of course sense not in a taste –  in a usefulness. Hope this “broom’ will do you good! 😉
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