Rice with vegetables

A funny fact about my life: I live in potatoe-loving Denmark, but I prefer rice... mostly! Except baked potatoes maybe. Potato soup is also superior to rice soup... etc. Talk about taste! Food is probably one of the major issues in families that everyone needs to make compromises on. I guess we're fortunate there are so many meals in a week that nobody should feel being taken advantage of.

Ingredients

1 cup rice
1 onion
1 leek
1 pepper
1 can tomatoes 
1/2 cup maize 
1/2 cup peas
salt
sunflower oil
ground red pepper
basil
savory
spearmint
lovage


Method


1. Boil the rice and remove the water. Set aside.
2. Fry the chopped onion and diced leek in a little sunflower oil for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the chopped pepper, the maize and the peas and continue frying for a few minutes.
4. Add the can of tomatoes to the pan and continue cooking together with the spices, except for the ground red pepper (add it five minutes before you take the dish out of the stove).
5. Let the vegetables aside for five minutes and then add them to the rice, mixing them well together.


It could be served both as a vegetarian main course or as a side dish. Enjoy!

Локумки (Turkish delights wrapped in dough)

What I like most about this recipe is that the dough is neutral and the sweetness of the Turkish delights isn't overtaken. Instead, the walnuts add a bit of flavor and balance to it.  

Ingredients


1 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 cup sunflower oil/ melted butter
1/2 t. sp. baking soda
1 egg
flour (as much as it takes)
Turkish delights
walnuts
powdered sugar


Method


1. Put 200 g. sifted flour in a big bowl.
2. Add the baking soda in the yoghurt.
3. Add the yoghurt, the egg and the sunflower oil/ butter to the flour.
4. Form soft dough, adding flour as necessary.
5. Roll the dough out (0.5 mm thin) and use a glass to cut out circles.
6. Put small pieces of Turkish delight and walnut (one of each) on half of the dough circles.
7. Cover the circles with walnut and Turkish delight with the rest of the circles and use a fork to close them.
8. Use the rest of the dough to form balls filled with walnuts and Turkish delights. 
9. Bake everything on medium high temperature until ready.
10. Sprinkle powdered sugar when still slightly warm (optional).

Walnuts and dried fruit bites

Combining dried fruits and walnuts is not a new concept. Our ancestors have been using them as a regular meal. Nowadays, we munch them for snack between meals and during traveling or as ingredients in more complex dishes.  Going to basics, I and my sister combine them, making dessert bites (cake replacement for coffee/ tea time) appropriate for all seasons. On my last trip to Bulgaria, I even got my mom, my aunt and a couple of friends to fall in love with them. They're that good... and addictive!

Ingredients


3/4 cup of orange juice
1 1/2 cup of blended walnuts/ almonds (the finer they're blended, the easier it is to work with the dough)
1/4 cup of fine oatmeal (I blend that too until it looks like flour)
7 dried apricots 
4 dried plums
1/2 cup of raisin
3/4 cup of coconut flakes
2 t. sp. espresso/ rum (unless children will eat from them)
1 t. sp. honey


Method


1. Finely chop the dried fruit and leave it to soak in the orange juice for about 30 min.
2. Mix the nuts, the oatmeal and half of the coconut flakes in a bowl.
3. Add the soaked dried fruit, the espresso/ rum  and honey to the bowl and form dough out of everything. It should be moist and somewhat sticky, so that you can form bite-sized balls out of it.
4. Cover the balls with chopped nuts, coco powder and/ or the rest of the coconut flakes.




Note: You can add and replace ingredients to fit your taste!

Jewelry salad

Although on a daily basis we might not have enough time to prepare an elaborate meal, busy schedules should not be an excuse for skipping home-made food altogether. It's probably one of the few most necessary ways to show that we care about ourselves. 

A quick way to fix dinner, integrating both raw vegetables and some more "substantial" food. These for me are the selling words for the Jewelry salad. Simple as it is, it's nutritious and delicious! The meat-loving people could alternatively have it as a side dish.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups boiled couscous

6 cherry tomatoes

1 pepper

1 carrot

1/2 cucumber

1/2 red onion

feta cheese cubes

For the dressing

3 tb. sp. olive oil

1 tb. sp. lemon juice

parsley

garlic powder

Сърми (Rice wrapped in sauerkraut leaves)

As one of my favorite dishes in Bulgarian cuisine, I don't miss out on making сърми with my mom every winter whenever I happen to spend it in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find whole sauerkraut leaves here in Denmark. Last winter, I tried to make pickled cabbage as a substitute, but the taste was distinctively different from what I would have liked it to be. Yet another replacement of sauerkraut leaves could be grape leaves, but I don't know of any vineyards around, where I could ask for some. So, next time around, I'm gonna have to plan in advance and learn how to make my own sauerkraut. 

Ingredients


sauerkraut leaves
1 leek 
1 onion
1/2 cup diced mushrooms/ minced meat (optional)
1 cup rice
1 tb. sp. dried savory
1 tb. sp. basil
1 t. sp. ground red pepper
a couple whole allspice berries
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper 
salt
sunflower oil


Method


1. Fry the finely chopped onion and leek for about 10 minutes with the sunflower oil on medium high temperature.
2. Add the rice, the mushrooms/ minced meat and the spices (reserving the allspice berries and the bay leaf for later). Continue frying until the rice looks crystal.
3. Add 1 1/2 cups hot water and continue cooking until the water evaporates.
4. Let the rice rest for a couple of minutes. 
5. Wrap the rice in the sauerkraut leaves, placing the wraps in a cooking pot, so there is no space between them.
6. Add the bay leaf and allspice berries between the wraps and add warm water a little bit below the wraps. (Note: Some people use the juice from the sauerkraut in addition to the water, but be aware of the wraps getting too salty.)
7. Put a ceramic plate (bottom up) on top of the wraps and put the pot on the stove. Cook for about 40 minutes after the water starts boiling on medium high temperature.


The rice wraps are perfect to serve both warm and cold. They could be garnished with yoghurt or anything else you see fit. Enjoy!