Category Archives: Sides and Appetizers

Cooked Shredded Beets

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There’s already a shredded beet recipe floating around this website somewhere, but that is for a salad. These beets are served hot and are a delicious side dish, though there’s no reason you can’t have these cold as well. The caramelized onions really make a difference here, so be sure to get them nice and golden. To make this vegan, simply omit the sour cream and swap the butter for oil. You can probably make this without the flour and get almost identical results, but this recipe is written exactly as it was provided by the legend herself. Smacznego!

Ingredients

  • 4 large beets
  • 1 small onion
  • 1/4 cut diced leeks (or swap for 1 more small onion)
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp sour cream
  • 1/2 Granny Smith apple
  • 2 tbsp butter (or oil)
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp lemon or orange zest (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash and scrub the beets well, and leave skin on. Wrap the beets all together in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Dice onions finely. Heat butter on pan over medium heat. Add onions and leeks and a few pinches of salt. Mix frequently to ensure you don’t burn the onions and leeks. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden and sweet. 

Remove beets from oven and cool until you can handle them in your hands. Scrape off skin with the edge of a spoon. Grate the beets using the largest holes on a box grater (or grate in a food processor). Grate Granny Smith apple using the same size grater.

Turn heat down on pan to low and add flour to the cooked onions and leeks, mix vigorously so you make a roux. Add sour cream and mix until everything is incorporated. Add grated beets and apple to the pan and mix together well, and add optional zest. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for approximately 15 minutes. 

Taste the beets and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Remove from heat and enjoy!

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Pickled Carrot Slices

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This pickling recipe can work for cucumber pickles, or anything else you might want to pickle! It is a base that you can add to with other seasonings such as mustard seeds (a Polish classic), allspice, chili peppers, or many other things. This recipe is all brine, no vinegar!!!

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Blueberry Pierogi (Pierogi z Jagodami)

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Pierogi with fruit fillings are very popular in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus…that whole area. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, sour cherries, and plums are common because those grow so well in the region.

Try to make these when blueberries are in season, usually late spring through summer, because they ARE the filling. Out of season, blueberries tend to be, but are not always…flavorless. If you have a craving you can’t beat, you can use frozen blueberries and thaw them before use. 

Once pierogi are assembled, your can refrigerate them and cook them the next day, or you can freeze them for a few weeks.

This make about 3-4 dozen pierogi.

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Savory Sweet Potato and Harissa Waffles

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This is a breeze to put together and is a good waffle to throw into the rotation if you like savory options. The harissa I have has red bell pepper in it so it is not as spicy as other varieties I’ve had. If you have one that’s all/mostly chili pepper, cut the harissa down to 1 tbsp to adjust the heat level. Continue reading →

Cheese Burek (Cheese Pies)

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Ingredients:

  • 12 oz feta cheese block
  • 5 oz shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion/scallion
  • 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 egg
  • 2 packages (4 sheets total) puff pastry dough
  • *Optional sesame or poppy for topping*

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Zebbug Mimli (Maltese Stuffed Olives)

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This recipe takes us south to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. In an effort to dabble in the culinary traditions of the other half beyond pastizzi, a delicious Maltese cheese pastry, I present a version of zebbug memli. If you can’t be anywhere near the turquoise blue Maltese water, then have some of these tuna stuffed green olives, close your eyes, and just pretend. Continue reading →

Crispy Roasted Broccoli

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With just 3 ingredients, this recipe clearly isn’t about what you add to a dish, the focus is how you cook it! Spreading vegetables like broccoli or green beans on a sheet pan and baking them at a high temperature maximizes flavor and is as simple as it gets. Continue reading →

Leek and Cabbage Patties

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Ingredients:

  • 2 medium leeks
  • 1 small head of cabbage or 1/2 medium-large head
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp goat cheese
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • salt
  • fresh herbs (green onion, parsley, or dill) for garnish
  • 1/3 cup oil (olive, sunflower, vegetable, etc.)

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Pierogi with Sauerkraut and Mushroom (Pierogi z Kapustą i Pieczarkami)

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I gave the spiel on pierogi in my potato and cheese potato and cheese filling post. This recipe is for the popular sauerkraut and mushroom filling. If you are having trouble finding dried mushrooms or if they are too expensive in stores near you, just use fresh mushrooms! Some recipes call for 1 shredded and sautéed carrot…that would be a great addition if you’d like.

Pssst…you can make this recipe vegan if make a dough with flour, water, and salt (start 3:1 ratio flour to water) and adjust as necessary).***

Reminder that once pierogi are assembled, you can refrigerate them and cook them the next day, or you can freeze them for a few weeks.

This make about 3-4 dozen pierogi. Continue reading →

Leczo Inspired Pepper Stew

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Leczo is a bell pepper stew that originally hails from Hungary (where it is spelled lecso). At some point, variations made their way through the region and over to Poland. This is NOT a recipe for an authentic Hungarian Lecso, but it does contain some of the necessary fundamentals: peppers, onion, tomato, and paprika. The end result is still delicious and can be a vegetarian stew/ragout used to top something like rice or buckwheat, or it can include kielbasa or other meat to make it a heartier standalone stew. Or it can just be a great side. This recipe is also much thicker than a lot of other leczo recipes out there, but you can obviously combine elements of all and adjust based on your preferences. 🙂 Continue reading →