Recipe for a soup, quick to prepare as it doesn’t require additional time to cook a broth and it also calls for a limited amount of ingredients, yet it is pretty delicious.

It is pretty filling, with all the meat and eggs, and also warming up and I think it is a perfect winter time meal.

And also great choice for the times when you are short on time.

Something simple to start a new year with.

All beets lovers out there (how ever many there are of you), this recipe is for you: cooked beets with sweet oranges dressed up with spicy ginger, red wine vinegar and fresh squeezed orange juice.

I make this one with roasted beets (wrap washed beets skin on in foil, put them into a pan and stick into oven warmed up to 355F for about 1.5h, or more or less depending on their size).

Boiled ones will work as well (see instructions for boiling beets if needed). I never tried this salad with precooked beets.

Size, taste (and sweetness) of both beets and oranges is something which may vary greatly, so there is a lot “to taste” measurements. You don’t want sweetness to be overpowering (this is where vinegar and salt come to help, using rather sour oranges will help as well). Also people have variable “tolerance” to taste of ginger, start small and add more to taste. Just be creative, you will not be disappointed.

One of these “whatever you have in the fridge” recipes here: in this case it calls for cauliflower, tomatoes, eggs and some greens.

I love cauliflower, fried cauliflower the most, and combination of cauliflower with eggs is one of my favorites.

Cooking cauliflower on skillet will take some time, use a lid to speed things up. I would advise against boiling or steaming cauliflower for this recipe as it will become too watery and will lose the crunch.

Not so complicated recipe for meatballs, will take roughly an hour to cook and will produce quite a lot to eat after.

These meatballs taste great straight from the oven or reheated later on. Pair well with mashed potatoes, pasta or grains (like boiled buckwheat here for example).

Trickiest trick here is to not burn the sauce while cooking, just make sure cooking temperature is low enough for light simmer and stir pot from time to time, using thicksided cooking pot or a deep cast iron skillet is a good option too.

With pumpkin and squash season comes time for vegetable soups using said vegetables.

Today’s recipe features butternut squash and some other fine veggies to accompany it.

It is full of veggie goodness, has hint of a spice (which you can tame a bit if you are looking for something less spicy by reducing amount of peppers) and totally great taste.

If you are a fan of the season, butternut squash soup is definitely a dish to try.

Since a pumpkin and squash season is upon us again, for these of you who wanted to cook and eat some of these but was hesitant to go for it due to fear of “cleaning” and preparing the squash, here is the simple few steps method I use which allows me to do it quick and more importantly pain- and bloodless.

It works the best for smaller size squashes which you can slice across with a knife. For bigger ones just do you best to slice it in manageable slices first and the proceed as described.

The same method will likely to work for other types of squashes and pumpkins.

I never was a fan of arugula rather bitter taste, but lately I have weird cravings for it, so I had to get inventive.

As it appears peach does a great job helping balancing arugula in this salad. So if you are like me: trying to get arugula in your diet while not actually liking the taste, this salad is for you.

Parmesan and pine nuts are great addition too.

One more recipe to the lineup of appetizers using cream cheese for me. This time it is for hot spinach cream cheese dip with parmesan and garlic.

Good choice if you are looking to increase the amount of leafy greens in your diet.

It is pretty easy to do and you can get a bowl full of goodness ready for your party or gathering literally in minutes.

Serve hot with tortilla chips or veggies.

This is a variation of a quiche pie with chicken and mushrooms and no crust.

Not a quickest recipe to cook, however as soon as you stick it to the oven, it does not require much attention, just checking the readiness would be the thing to do.

Using pre-cooked chicken (rotisserie or boiled leftovers) is an option here, just fry mushrooms alone and add cooked chicken to the batter. It will speed up the cooking as well.

This pie would taste great for breakfast, lunch or brunch.

As zucchini season is in full swing I want to share a recipe for this amazing appetizer: zucchini rolls with cream cheese, garlic and fresh herbs stuffing.

I must say it is one of my favorite finger foods. I think I can eat the whole plate of these by myself.

Use mandoline to slice zucchini here, it will make life much easier and will speed process up a lot.

If you want to reduce oil intake - roasting zucchini in the oven in grilling skillet can be an option to.

Quick recipe for an appetizer you can put together on a minutes notice (if you have ingredients of course): salmon and cream spread.

Once ready, you can set it up on cucumber slices, or crackers you like. Or in less fancy fashion (and also quicker) spread it on a bread toast.

I used hand blender to here, because I wasn’t sure how my cup blender will react to not-so-liquid mixture. Either one you plan to use, just make sure cream cheese and salmon are well blended into homogeneous mixture.

Ramps are seasonal, and not many stores carry them. I have few recipes for ramps lined up to try but it is always a matter of will I be lucky to find them or not to be able to share.

This year I was lucky to be at the store when local Whole Foods had them for a brief amount of time.

So, long story short, you may not be able to try this until next year when ramps come back, but nevertheless I want to share the recipe for a ramps salad with fresh cheese and eggs.

It is full of vitamin goodness ramps offer and is a great choice for an early spring.

Fresh cheese for this salad can also be hard to find. So either make it yourself or try cottage cheese (if will probably not need mashing, so skip that step if you do)

Don’t let the amount of ingredients this recipe calls for to scare you: it is not as hard to cook as it may seem (just many pictures).

In fact it is pretty easy, especially if you are keen on peeling and slicing. And cooking takes just about 30 mins.

If you are looking for lighter version calorie-wise, reduce amount of flour (or skip it all together).

Reducing amount of sour cream will help too, but I wouldn’t skip on it entirely, it adds a lot to the taste.

This is one of variations of traditional Ukrainian dish featuring green beans (“lopatky” or “лопатки”) fried with breadcrumbs and seasoned with garlic.

Green beans are pretty easy and quick to cook. The major trick for me is to not overcook them (I like beans crunchy, not too soft). So testing beans softness from time to time while simmering them is a key. Take them off the burner as soon as ready.

These taste the best when served straight from the skillet: warm and fragrant.

Featuring today a recipe for pretty simple limited ingredient spring salad with radishes and cucumber.

It requires up to 15 mins to prepare. Even less if you use mandeline instead of a knife.

This salad will be a good complement for a steak or some meat and vegetable entree.

If sour cream you use is thick, you can mix it with the lemon juice first before dressing the salad, that will make mixing of salad easier.

Getting inventive with chicken patties: using cabbage instead of bread or breadcrumbs as filler.

I must say these are a hit: juicy and very tasty.

And so quick and easy to do, especially if you use ready to go minced chicken meat and food processor for cabbage and onion.

These patties taste great with potatoes or grains (I served these with boiled buckwheat), salads as well are great choice here.

Good recipe for no-meat linguine or fettuccine pasta.

Pretty quick to make, nothing sophisticated, plain and simple steps to follow, as quick as cooking pasta itself.

Secret chief’s secret: don’t overcook asparagus and don’t burn garlic, that is about it.

Great recipe when you are short on time and need to eat.

If you have more cilantro lime shrimps on your hands than you can eat or if eating them plain isn’t as exciting as it was anymore and you want to add some veggies to your diet, this salad may be an idea to try.

It doesn’t take much time to do, and is pretty easy to do: chops veggies, add shrimps and beans, dress and mix.

Cilantro lime shrimps from Costco’s will work here, or if you feel adventurous - try to prepare shrimps yourself, as I’ve described in my previous recipe, either will work for this one.

Discovered this simple way to dress boiled shrimps while trying to recreate a similar one from Costco: marinate boiled shrimps in lime juice, spices and cilantro.

Of course the taste is not exactly the same as of Costco ones, but the list of ingredients is also much shorter.

These shrimps can be served on their own as appetizer or added to salads or tacos.

Using already cooked, peeled and deveined shrimps like I did will save a lot of time, if you want to cook and/or clean shrimps yourself, factor the time in for it.

Need some beans in your life? Try this quick salad.

Unusual combination of crab stick, beans, eggs and greens, but very gentle taste I would say.

The combination of crab stick and eggs is something one can never be wrong with, that is if you like both eggs and crab stick of course.

This takes minutes to assemble, especially if you boil eggs in advance. If you don’t, make sure they are cooled down till room temperature before cutting them for the salad.

Various pasta or noodle salads is something totally unusual to the place where I can from.

But ever since I tried one, I am totally in love (my fitness-geeky-trying-to-be-conscious self is a bit less so, but sometimes it needs a break too).

This salad comes with a nice pack of veggies: tomatoes, bell peppers, corn. If you use whole wheat noodles and close your eyes on cheese and mayo we can almost call it healthy, right?

Fusilli or elbow pasta will work good here, other types may work too (okey, maybe be not spaghetti, but I think that is obvious). Tri-color pasta will make salad more festive, give it try if you need more color in your life...

Napa cabbage is tender and juicy and is generally good choice for salads: doesn’t require any extra work to soften it up.

As any cabbage, it is high on vitamin C, so it is good choice of food for that flu and cold season.

This is also a salad to do if you got some leftover chicken and need to find some use for it: just remove skin and bones.

Any chicken meat will do, I boiled some thighs to prepare this post.

Little something without the meat: mushrooms cooked with peas and tomatoes in tomato juice and sour cream sauce.

It takes about 30 mins to cook, and pretty easy too. Just use good tasting canned tomatoes with no extra additives.

Serve mushrooms and peas as a dish on its own, or in addition to healthy grains or pasta. My favorite here is boiled buckwheat, but they I am a bit biased towards it.

It can even be a sauce for meat, if you wish it.

Unusual combination of prunes and cabbage, stewed together.

Slightly sweet, pure veggies, just a bit of oil, so not too heavy and pretty simple to cook, especially if you shred cabbage with mandoline or some similar tool.

If you use prunes with pits, account for few additional minutes to remove them. It isn’t too hard, just a bit messy. If pits are not coming out easily, soak them a bit longer.

Serve cabbage with prunes as a separate entry or a side dish.

This recipe will probably excite these few who either grow up in USSR or have relatives from that country/time.

I am both, and this dish brings a lot of childhood memories of New Year celebrations and other family gatherings.

For the rest of you jellied beef tongue (zalivnoj jazyk, zalivnoe) may be more of an exotic something you may never try, here are some pictures to a look at in case you don’t feel that adventurous to cook it.

Few notes to the recipe. I’ve ended up using more gelatin than the ingredients picture shows, that is because I’ve decided to do more than one plate. Rule of the thumb 1 pack (1/4oz) for about 1 cup of broth.

Second note is about execution: I’ve realized that it may be easier to arrange the decoration pieces when gelatin starts to settle a bit, and not before pouring the broth in (as I did), because broth moves them around :).

Pretty simple yet pretty festive and colorful raw cabbage salad with red beets, greens and a bit of onion dressed with mayo (all though you can go for a sunflower or olive oil for healthier option).

Raw cabbage is packed with vitamins, especially vitamins K and C, but also B6 and folate. And beets high in folate and manganese. A good combination for the winter.

It is also quite filling. So a good choice if you are trying to get some fiber in.

Cold weather winter chill favorite, hot (as in temperature) and hearty, broccoli cheddar soup.

If you like this one just like I do, but wasn’t sure if you can make it, think no further: the recipe is pretty easy to follow.

The only tricky part is to make sure flour base doesn’t burn and is gradually mixed with half half and chicken broth until smooth and creamy - make sure the heat is low and continue stirring while mixing liquids in.

I hope pumpkin season has not passed for you just yet. Or, thanks to the store supply of canned pumpkin, it can actually be all year around if one wishes.

Whatever the case is for you, this recipe is one to try should you wish to fight that pumpkin deficiency in you diet. Here they come - pumpkin cookies.

You can eat them plain or topped with cream cheese frosting, I prefer the latter.

This is this time of the year for pumpkin cookies. And what pumpkin cookie doesn’t taste even better with cream cheese frosting?

So, if here is a quick how-to for cream cheese frosting.

Disclaimer: amount of powdered sugar is some what moving target here, it all depends on how sweet you want frosting to be. I don’t like it too sweet, so my amount is about 8 tablespoons.

So my advice is: start adding sugar gradually, taste from time to time and stop when it is as sweet as you want it.

Amount of ingredients mentioned in the recipe is enough for batch of pumpkin cookies. Adjust amounts if you plan to do more or less, or use it for a pumpkin roll or cake which requires more of frosting.

These are my favorite fried pies - my grandma used to cook these, and I was always amazed how such simple combination of ingredients can produce such tasty pies.

These are type of russian pies (piroshki or pyrizhky) - dough dumplings stuffed with green onions and hard boiled eggs and then fried on a skillet.

Again, you can use ready-to-go dough, or prepare dough yourself, for this recipe you would need about half of the batch prepare for unsweetened yeast dough.

It took me awhile to get back to stuffing some pasta shells after first attempt. So second recipe is featuring mushroom, chicken and cheese stuffing with cheese sauce on top.

A little bit heavy (pasta, cream, cheese), but also totally delicious I must say.

Not to hard to do, however will take some time to cook. And since leftovers can be easily reheated, can be great for lunch next day or two.

Pasta shells have tendency to break when cooked, so I usually boil few extra to make sure I have enough.

I am always not sure what the difference is between frittata, omelette or just crustless quiche: all of these have something to do with eggs, some sort of cream, cheese and various fillings.

In this recipe fillings are salmon, broccoli, asparagus and some greens. And today I will call it a frittata :) And hey, it is full of veggies...

Great recipe for breakfast, lunch or whatever meal time you prefer.

Another traditional russian dish for these who feel adventurous to make it: fried pies with potatoes and mushrooms (piroshki or pyrizhky).

I don’t think it is hard to do, but it does require some time and can be a nice activity for whole family, since assembling pies will go faster with more hands :)

You can use ready-to-go dough, or prepare dough yourself, for this recipe you would need about half of the batch prepare for unsweetened yeast dough

Serve pies warm or cooled down, alone or accompanied by a clear broth or soup.

Traditionally for a zucchini season a zucchini recipe: a cross between meat patties and zucchini pancakes, so to speak. For the times you want to eat some meat but also want to get your veggies in as well.

They turn out very tender and juicy. Pair great with any potatoes or grain sides. Work good on buns, however will be too soft for grilling, so just fry them as recipe explains.

I prepared these with beef, but I think chicken or turkey or mix of meats (whatever you like more) will work here as well.

Light chicken salad, great on its own, as a side or on the sandwich.

Chicken thighs work great in this recipe, breast would be “skinnier” option. Alternatively rotisserie chicken leftovers would do as well.

If you are cooking chicken yourself, make sure it is cooled down to room temperature before slicing it for the salad.

You can get creative with dressing here: between low fat yoghurt, mix of yogurt with sour cream or mayo or just mayo itself. Choose to the taste or/and amount of calories.

Scrambled eggs is one of these things one can easily throw together and be creative about it: the fridge content is the only limit, really.

And asparagus is my new go to for scrambled eggs lately. It pairs well with mushrooms and vegetables, and eggs themselves of course.

So here you go: a recipe for scrambled eggs with asparagus and mushrooms. Feel free to follow the steps, or tweak it one way or another.

Got a can or two of chickpeas stuck in the pantry? Or boiled a cup too many of garbanzo beans and looking for creative way to use them? Try this homemade hummus recipe.

It takes about 5 mins to make and you get a fresh batch of hummus to eat with your favorite vegetables, pita bread, chips or for further use in other recipes.

For this recipe I cooked beans from scratch. If you do the same save some of the water beans are cooked in and use it instead of water in this recipe.

Perfect pork roast made of few ingredients: turns out juicy and tasteful. It is pretty easy to cook, doesn’t require much cooking skills if any at all.

This pork roast tastes great warm fresh from the oven, as well as cooled down. Pairs well with roasted vegetables or a salad.

Marinating will require few hours and can go over night if needed.

One of the easiest chickpea recipes to make, yet so tasty one. This vegetarian dish will require a little less than 20 mins of cooking.

It can be served on its own, with a bit of bread, or as a side for boiled rice or quinoa.

I think this is one of traditional Indian recipe. Tweak the taste to your liking by adjusting amount of spices or even spices themselves. The recipe calls for garam masala, but a good curry powder will work as well.

I always soak and boil chickpeas myself, drain them before using here (preserve a bit of water they were cooking in). Using canned ones is an option as well, it will certainly be quicker. If going this route, use water at step 10.

If you don’t want to use canned beans in your recipe and prefer to cook chickpeas or garbanzo beans yourself, here are pretty easy to follow step-by-step instructions for how to boil them from scratch.

The trick is to soak beans for at least of 10 hours before cooking.

Make sure that beans don’t boil to hard, very light simmering is enough. Cook beans until desired tenderness (45 mins to an hour).

Use cooked beans right away, or freeze for later. You may also preserve some water the beans are cooking in for further use.

Easy quick recipe for a childhood favorite: oatmeal cookies.

Back in the days we cooked them by grinding rolled oats into the flour, but nowadays one can simply buy oat flour instead.

Either way will work, you may need to play with amount of ingredients a bit.

Consistency of the flour and ground oats may vary a bit, and so can vary sour cream, so adjust amount of flour needed based on dough consistency.

Artistic twist on rosemary baked potatoes: thin sliced, nicely spiced and powdered with a bit of parmesan.

It is easier to guess what size of pan to use and how much potatoes to use if you measure pan by placing potatoes in and adjusting amount of potatoes to fit in neatly prior to cooking.

Use potatoes of the same size to ensure they cook evenly.

For more consistent results and speed - use mandoline for slicing potatoes.

Any time is a good time for a salad. Especially if it is a chicken salad loaded with protein, in a great combination with tomatoes and mushrooms.

This salad can be an entry on its own or a side to another dish.

I used boiled chicken for this one, however leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey will work here as well.

If you want to go lighter on calories with this recipe, use light mayo, or a combination of yogurt and mustard.

It is green and delicious, it is spinach quiche.

Great recipe for weekend breakfast or brunch, when you want to eat something tasty without spending too much time and effort preparing it.

If you prefer quiches baked in crust, it will work too, just bake the crust, pour mixture in and cook according to directions below.

These ingredients will fit in 9-10 inch pan. Depending on how hungry you are, it will feed from 2 to 4 people.

Creative way to stuff pork loin - slice it up like a “book”, marinate, put tasty ingredients in between “pages” and then roast.

I stuffed pork loin with tomato slices, shredded cheese and sliced thin garlic cloves for a hint of spice.

For this recipe meat is marinated for about 12 hours before cooking. So allow some time for that, you will not be disappointed.

Perfect recipe for pretty much any white fish: easy to cook and turns out tasty and juicy.

I used cod here. Marinating cod in lemon juice helps to bring out nice texture and make sure it is soft.

Sometimes cod can torn out chewy after cooking, but it is not a case with this recipe.

Pair baked cod with boiled or roasted potatoes and a glass of nice wine for a romantic dinner.

Not the fastest recipe to cook, but it is definitely worth trying: two layers of potato and beef mushroom stuffing in between, all dressed up with sour cream sauce - tastes delicious fresh out of the oven. And also reheats well.

I used ground beef for this one, but any ground meat will work as well. Just use the one you like.

If you have a mandoline - use it, otherwise make sure potatoes are sliced in equally thick pieces for even cooking.

This is my take on New England Clam Chowder, which I love and always wanted to learn to cook it, and somehow always hesitated.

It appeared not as hard as I thought it would. And it doesn’t take too much time to cook this fragrant and warm soup for a cold winter day. Listed amount of ingredients will produce 3-4 portions.

As many seafoods, it is important to not overcook clams, or they will harden and will become chewy. If you like bigger pieces of clam use chopped clams, minced clams are smaller.

Don’t skip on bacon, it gives the chowder that distinctive smoky taste.

Somehow I never roasted a pork tenderloin until about month ago. And now once I tried, I can’t stop doing it.

Not only it is very easy and fast to cook, but it also turns out very delicious and tender, and spices can be varied to whatever you like.

You can use pretty much any ready-to-use pork meat rub here. Sometimes I do, and other times I make my own, see list of spices in the recipe.

Chanterelles cooked with sour cream and onions are perfect side for any potato dish: boiled, baked, fried, you name it; they can also be great topper for a steak.

And of course mushrooms work great with grains, so boiled rice, or barley, or buckwheat will taste great with these as well.

Chanterelles are seasonal and can be quite expensive, but if you are as lucky as I am you may find some reasonable priced ones at some point in Costco.

Use good original sour cream without any additives if you can for best taste. And make sure you soak chanterelles and wash them well off any dirt and dust before cooking.

Cauliflower and vegetables soup infused with Italian spices and cream is another creation perfect for cold winter weather: it fills and warms you up.

And that fact that this soup is pretty easy and quick to do if just another reason to try it out.

Fresh chicken broth works perfect here, however good grade boxed broth is a good option too.

Sometimes I use broth from boiling chicken thighs for salads and such, to not waste a good stuff.

If you are looking for more heat use hot Italian sausage instead of mild one or in addition to it.

Everything tastes better with bacon. And potatoes are not an exception here: use smoked bacon fat to fry potatoes for an extra twist on otherwise usual taste and you will get traditional Bratkartoffel (German style pan fried potatoes with bacon).

Because of amount of fat, this is probably not the healthiest recipe in the world, but it is for sure a delicious one.

Serve pan fried potatoes with pretty much any meat, they pair great with any kind of schnitzels or sausage.

Quick and easy no meat mushroom curry. I could probably get away with using curry powder, but for this recipe I used actual mix of spices.

That way I could can play with spiciness and taste a bit every time I cook it.

Mushroom curry tastes great with boiled rice, or boiled barley. I even add it to salads sometimes to spice things up a bit.

It is really pretty fast recipe to cook and very tasty.

It took me couple of tries to get close enough in recreating a recipe for Jager Sauce which I tried in local German restaurant.

I must say I love how it turned out: creamy, mushroomy with a hint of wine and a little more than a hint of smoked bacon.

Traditionally, Jager Sauce is being served with schnitzels.

And I found it works great with meat roasts and fried meat, as well as with any kind of potato sides.

Creamy Spinach with Eggs is my goto side dish recipe for baked or grilled salmon.

If you are looking for more ways to add some leafy greens into your diet - this may be a recipe to try.

Fresh spinach with eggs and sour cream cooks in minutes, is packed with nutrients and also tastes great.

By the way spinach volume will reduce significantly while cooking, so don’t get surprised and start with a big bunch.

If you have an abundance of zucchini, this is definitely one recipe to try.

For me it stays somewhere on a verge between being a casserole and omelette. It has creamy texture, tons of fiber, nice amount of protein and green festive color :)

Zucchini and Chicken Casserole is a great choice for lunch or dinner, or even breakfast if you prepare it in advance ready for reheating.

Tuna and Mozzarella salad is my goto light salad with a bit of protein. It works great for training days, because I don’t feel hungry after it but I also don’t feel like I eat whole bunch of unhealthy stuff.

A lot in this salad depends on the taste of tuna, so use the kind of tuna you like. If you plan to use tuna canned in oil, you may reduce amount of oil in the salad dressing to balance calories consumed.

Fresh corn they sell here in US is usually soft, sweet and juicy, so I use it for this salad myself, however canned corn works just as well.

I’ve tried this salad on a cookout organized by our friends and fell in love with it (and of course had to make sure I have a recipe for it to share).

I don’t even know why this dish made of cooled cooked pasta, black olives, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella tossed with pesto and grated parmesan is called a salad, but let’s go with it.

Of course freshly made basil pesto sauce is the best choice for dressing here (and it doesn’t really take much time to make if you wish to try). But one from a store works as well.

I know pasta salads are not a first choice for people who are trying to cut down the amount of carbs they consume but it surely is delicious. Well, one can opt for a whole grain pasta to make it seem a bit better.

Next time you need to bring something to a cookout or a get-together, why not to try this recipe?

There are so many ways to enjoy basil pesto sauce. It is perfect for dipping bread, works great as salad dressing, pasta or pizza sauce, or pesto butter. Toss some cooked chicken with it to give a salad or a wrap some extra kick. Sky is a limit.

Already pre-made pesto sauces from the store are an option too, however nothing beats freshly homemade one.

And it is pretty easy to do too: just plug all ingredients into a blender, chop until smooth and then mix cheese in.

Pecorino cheese may be hard to find, using shredded parmesan should work as well.

Savory crepes with no sugar added and lower amount of flour than in traditional crepes due to usage of zucchini pulp - yes, count me in!

Amount of flour specified in the recipe is somewhat approximate. You may end up using more or less depending on how liquid the kefir is.

Generally you don’t want to get batter to thick for crepes to become too thick, but you also don’t want to make it too thin either because it will be hard to turn a crepe over when frying (it may tear).

So if crepe tears when you try to flip it, add a bit flour in before frying next one, or if it turns out too thick - add a bit of kefir to the batter.

Kefir makes crepes very tender, and may be somewhat hard to flip in general, so use smaller frying pan to make the process easier.

If you like quiches for breakfast or brunch but don’t want to mess with puff pastry (or trying to cut off some carbs and fat) try this recipe for an omelette with broccoli.

I used fresh broccoli crowns (they are pretty inexpensive and taste great being in season and such), however frozen ones will probably work as well.

Cooking time for the omelette will depend on the size of the pan and amount of ingredients you use. Start testing readiness at 20 mins mark with a wooden toothpick. When omelette is ready, the toothpick should come out clean when stuck into the middle of the omelette.

Amount of ingredients from this recipe will produce 2 portions.

In continuation of a peach topic (remember, I got a whole box of juicy tender sweet Georgia peaches?) I present to you the fresh peach pie recipe.

Almost hassle free (especially if you use ready to bake pie shell as I did) and very tasty (if ripe sweet tasty peaches are used). Peaches remain uncooked (only shell is baked) and taste as fresh as they can be.

I used leftover peach kompot to prepare gelatin topping for this pie. Peach juice can be used instead (if it doesn’t contain pineapple in it). A bit of peach preserves mixed with some water to get needed amount and consistency will work as well.

It is a peach season and I managed to acquire big box of Georgia peaches which are very sweet and tasty and don’t have long shelf life.

So a portion of these peaches made their way into this Peach Kompot (in Russian “kompot” stands for a boiled fruit drink).

As any kompot, Peach kompot is pretty easy to make: just boil peaches with a bit of sugar and cool it down to infuse.

Removing skin from peaches makes them nice to consume, but you don’t have to do it if it seem like a hassle: just slice peaches in halves and remove pits, skin will get separated during boiling process by itself.

Whatever you may need skinless peaches for: a pie, a dessert or a salad, or anything else, here is step-by-step instructions how to skin them.

Ripe but somewhat firm peaches are easiest to blanch, so pick these if you have some choice.

It is important to not overcook peaches during blanching, especially if they are on the soft side, or peaches will get mushy and somewhat hard to work with after blanching.

Boiled beef tongue is one of foods I love from the childhood, I love the taste, and it also is nutritious and easily digestible and is a good source of protein.

Boiled beef tongue is a perfect dish on its own, that is you can serve it with a side. But it can be also used for sandwiches, or be sliced into a salad, or be used in further cooking.

Now, cooking time for beef tongue will vary greatly depending on it size and age. It will be anywhere between 2 and 4 hours. So start testing readiness at about 2 hours mark of boiling.

Broth prepared from cooking beef tongue with vegetables tastes great as well, you can use it for a soup or some other cooking, just discard roots and use fresh ones at that point if needed.

Recipe for pretty light soft soup-puree made of summer squash, spinach and milk. And isn’t this radiant green color fantastic?

Any kind of summer squash or combination of these will work for this recipe I think, I used young zucchini and yellow squash.

Use milk for lighter version (I’ve used milk here) or half-half for reacher one.

Also, I’ve cooked fresh spinach for this recipe, but I think frozen may work as well if added to the pot later in the process to avoid overcooking, the color maybe vary in this case.

Potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus and onions infused with fajita and some other spices and roasted in the oven is perfect dish on its own if you want more veggies in your diet, or great side dish for meat or chicken entree.

Cooking time for this dish in will vary depending on size of potato and cauliflower pieces. Potato in general will take more time to cook than other vegetables, slice it in smaller pieces and check its readiness with a knife before turning the oven off.

I used virgin olive oil spray here, spraying is a way more convenient than just pouring, it also helps to cut amount of oil to necessary minimum. However pouring oil will work as well.

Chicken thighs baked in mustard and soy sauce is one of these recipes to use when you need to cook something delicious while spending minimum effort on it.

All you need to do is to whip a sauce together, cover chicken with it and stick it into the oven - cooking doesn’t get any easier than this.

Chicken thighs are juicy and easy to cook without much risk of over drying the meat, so this recipe produces very tender and juicy chicken meat with a hint of spices from curry and mustard.

Pork rolls with a hint of mustard and pickles inside is not a healthiest recipe out there (due to pork and deep frying) but definitely interesting one to try at some point.

I like to use boneless country style pork ribs cut for this recipe. This cut is usually tender and juicy and easy to flatten into soft cutlets. However another soft pork cut may work here as well.

Make sure meat you use doesn’t have excess amount of fat and other connective tissue, or rolls will get harder to cook through (these I used for pictures had a bit too much of it, but I couldn’t find better one), use meat which has more meat in it with a bit of fat around it.

This pasta dish recipe is greatly inspired by Zuppa Toscana you can find in “Olive Garden” here in US.

It has distinct Italian taste (thanks to spices in sausage), creamy parmigiano reggiano sauce and any pasta you want, all though I suggest using whole wheat linguini pasta for healthier option.

Using of hot Italian sausage rather than mild one will make the dish hotter obviously, mixing both is an option too.

Serve Italian Sausage Pasta for dinner or lunch, serve it hot, it tastes better fresh, not reheated. Stated amount of ingredients yields exactly 2 portions, adjust amounts if you need more or less.

Cod fish may taste a bit plain and somewhat boring, but not if prepared with mustard and lemon marinade like in this recipe.

Onions cooked along with fish in the same marinate taste just great (I think I might like onions the same as fish if not more). So don’t be shy on amount of onions to use.

Marinating requires at least an hour, but can be extended to few, as long as you keep the fish is in the fridge. And will allow to do all preparations in advance in needed and then cook fish right before the serving.

Yogurt, mustard and lemon juice salad dressing tastes great especially in meat based salads, but is also good with tomatoes, good on sandwiches and as dipping sauce.

It can be used as lighter substitute for mayo: if you compare 900 calories for 5oz of mayo to about 140 calories of similar amount of this dressing.

Now, taste of this dressing will vary based on what kind of mustard you use, as well as based on proportion of mustard and lemon juice. Just experiment with different types and proportions to your liking.

I like using chobani yogurt for this one: there is enough space in the container to fit mustard and juice and mix, so no need to use extra bowl for mixing.

This is easy and refreshing tasting salad of few ingredients: all you need is fresh broccoli crown, few tomatoes, onion and some greens.

It is important to use broccoli crown as it is normally more soft and less chewy than more mature pieces.

Raw broccoli and tomato salad pairs well with meat or poultry courses.

These resemble chicken kiev for the part that they are chicken rolls which are stuffed with garlicky butter. But they are much easier to make and are a bit healthier: because of no breading and no deep frying.

Chicken thin cutlets cut works perfectly for this one (if you can buy it), but whole breast can be sliced into cutlets as well, it will just be slightly more work to do to make sure slices are even and there are no holes in the chicken so stuffing doesn’t leak when cooking.

Butter and cheese stuffed chicken rolls taste great when served hot, right out the oven. Good when paired with mashed or baked potatoes. Perfect for romantic or celebratory dinner.

EnjoyYourCooking already has recipe for Lazy Cabbage Rolls casserole, this recipe variation uses almost the same ingredients, but in form of cabbage and meat patties baked under tomato and sour cream sauce.

Again, they are much easier and faster to prepare comparing to traditional cabbage rolls (this is why they are called “lazy”), but taste is very similar.

These patties constitute complete meal, but some vegetables or salads can be served along as a side dish.

This dish offers great combination of tastes: cabbage, onions, mushrooms and sour cream braised together and seasoned with fresh dill.

Cabbage braised with mushrooms and sour cream can be served as a side or as no meat course on its own.

Time needed for cooking will vary depending on how soft you like cabbage to be, just check its readiness from time to time.

Unusually tasting salad for a celebratory table or if you want to add a bit more liver in your diet (for example to consume more iron or other nutrients it is reach on).

As title says, fried liver is the base of the salad, accompanied by fried carrots and onions and boiled eggs. Probably it is not the lightest of the salads other there, but again, rich in nutrients and pretty filling.

Ingredients of the salad can be cooked and mixed together in advance, store them in the fridge and then add mayo 20-30 mins before serving it.

Another take on mashed cauliflower side: smooth pureed cauliflower with parmesan cheese and a hint of spicy garlic.

Great choice when you want to cut on potato intake but still want something of mashed texture on your table.

From my experience, cauliflower purees taste better fresh, so cook just enough for one time don't keep leftovers.

Garlic taste can be a bit overpowering sometimes, so I suggest going with half garlic clove at first, and see if more is needed to taste.

It is a bit tricky game to get chicken out of its skin w/o damaging the skin, but I managed it (and prepared step-by-step instructions with photos along the way).

The only hiccup I had on the way was with bacon. The smoked bacon I used had very powerful and distinctive taste, and it mostly took over the taste of other ingredients. So for this recipe I suggest to use smaller amount of non-smoked bacon, or replace it with ground pork instead.

I was working on a recipe stuffed chicken skin (it will be coming up in next post) and, after seeing how much time and effort it took me to remove the skin from a raw chicken in one piece without damaging it on the way, I decided to create a post with step-by-step instructions and pictures for others to use.

Pictures have come up not that appetizing (and for that I apologize), but at least they illustrate the process in details and are easier to follow than plain word description.

Most of the work you will be doing with a knife placed in between skin and meat slightly angled towards the meat. Work with short precise cut motions to make sure skin remains undamaged through the process. So, to get a whole raw chicken skin to use for a recipe you will need a raw chicken, sharp long knife and a tablespoon.

Zucchini “fries” cooked with this recipe are much healthier alternative to potato ones: much less oil and less starchy zucchini instead of potato.

I love zucchini, so these taste great for me. It is easy to improvise with spices and their amounts to create new unique taste every time I want it.

Please note, more mature zucchinis will require more cooking time, so probe with a fork to see readiness.

Zucchini with Parmesan and Spices can be served as snack, or an appetizer or a side dish.

Fun recipe to play with: eggplants stuffed with ground beef and vegetables. Nice combination of meat and veggies. I love eggplants!

For me it is always a bit tricky to hollow eggplants out, it is important to take most of pulp off to make sure they cook through, but it is also important to to not damage eggplant skin. It takes a bit of time and practice.

You can take bigger eggplants and slice them in half lengthwise, or take smaller ones and slice top part off like I did for this recipe.

There are many recipes in Ukrainian cuisine for Hrechanyky - meat and buckwheat patties.

All of them use some sort of meat (chicken, or pork, or beef, or a combination of these) which is being mixed with boiled buckwheat and some other ingredients; patties are either baked or fried, and then served either plain or with some kind of sauce. So, there are many variations.

In this recipe I used ground chicken, patties are fried and served without any sauce. Simple recipe I would say. If you are grinding chicken meat yourself, you can do it together with onion, that way there is no need to grate it.

Serve hrechanyky warm or cooled down with vegetable side or on a bread bun.

Interesting and I would say unusual recipe: chopped chicken meat patties baked in garlicky cream cheese sauce. Great choice for romantic or family dinner.

I used chicken thighs meat for this recipe, it seem juicier and tasty to me, but breast meat will work as well. As for cheese, it is italian cheese blend, but if you like something else - it would probably work too.

If meat mince consistency is watery, forming patties may get tricky, just use two spoon to ladle and shape them, otherwise use hands.

I think this recipe is one of these I can call American. I don’t know if it was invented here, but it is sure popular here: it is quick to make and kids love it.

I used cheddar and swiss cheese for my sandwiches, but any other good melting cheese will work as well. As well as other breads. Just experiment with what you like.

Serve grilled cheese sandwich with a side or without.

Country style boneless pork ribs cut is perfect choice for breading and frying: meat turns out soft and juicy, it is very easy to portion and cook. Result looks and tastes like tenders which are made out of pork.

Fried pork fingers can be served as an entree with a side or on a bread as a sandwich.

I usually cook bigger batch. Leftovers can then be stored in fridge or be frozen, and can be easily reheated in microwave.

Nice recipe for summer cookout - spicy (and somewhat sweet because of paprika) tender chicken meat skewers. Easy to prepare, yet it is very delicious.

All the heavy lifting for marinating meat is done in advance and then skewers are cooked right before serving. One more positive side of this recipe.

We usually cook these on metal skewers over open hot charcoals. If you plan to use wooden sticks - make sure to soak them in water well in advance to prevent burning.

Alternatively, these can be cooked in the oven, using broil at the end for color is a plus.

Lately, I am cutting on my potato intake, but it is hard because I like such sides as mashed potatoes, for example. So when I read about mashed cauliflower being something similar but healthier, I had to try it right away.

I must say, mashed cauliflower still tastes like cauliflower, however the texture of it is very much similar to the texture of potato puree. So I think, I am pleased with my results.

I used hand immersion hand blender to puree my cauliflowers, but I am pretty sure stand blender or food processor will work for it as well.

Don’t over do on amount of milk - cauliflower will need much less than potato would, so add it very gradually, spoon by spoon until desired consistency.

Not complicated recipe for homemade drink to enjoy this hot summer: a milkshake made of fresh (and colorful) blueberries, ice cream and milk, you will also need a stand blender.

Fresh berries are just great for this. But they can be replaced with frozen ones to make it more affordable or when fresh blueberries are out of season.

Listed ingredients will yield about 3 portions. Work in batches to make more in case you have 48oz blender cup like I do.

If you have some cabbage sitting in the fridge and you don’t know what to do with it, here is your way out: make cabbage pancakes. They are much like Ukrainian “deruny” but made from cabbage and onions.

My better half is not a big fan of cabbage in general, but he loves these and always asks for seconds.

Cabbage pancakes work great for breakfast or lunch as a dish on its own. But they are not sweet, so I suppose can be served as a side dish as well.

Listed amount of ingredients will produce about 15 pancakes.

I love this recipe. And if you use boneless country-style pork rib meat as I do and get tender and juicy meat “pancakes”, you will love it too.

Just chop the meat along with onions, mix with eggs and some starch, set it in fridge to marinate and then fry later.

This is one of meals you can prepare everything for some time in advance, and then just fry them right before serving.

This is amazingly quick recipe for fried beef. Perfect dish for when you have some beef frozen up and you need to throw a dinner together quick and easy.

You don’t even need to thaw it all the way, meat will actually be much easier to slice if it is frozen a bit. Just make sure you use sharp knife.

Now, time to cook will depend on the meat cut - the softer meat is the lesser time to cook it will require. Just try from time to time until it is soft enough.

This is my recipe for so called Polish Cucumber salad: simple salad with cucumbers, fresh dill and marinated onions.

Marinating onions makes them less bitter and removes most of that onion breath smell therefore this salad is great for parties, cookouts and such.

I am using balsamic vinegar and sour cream as dressing here. If you like, you can replace vinegar with lemon juice, but I somehow like vinegar better.

The magic of this recipe is in the fact that you can prepare everything for it a day before and then just fry the meat when the time is right.

You can actually store marinated meat in fridge for longer and just fry a portion you need every time you need it, which may save time eventually.

Results may vary depending on the taste of mustard you use. So use the one you like :).

The same goes for peppers - I used a mixture I had on hands: red pepper, black pepper, white pepper, coriander, etc, but you can use whatever you like the most.

Choose softer cut of beef for this recipe, pork or chicken may work too.

Creamy potato and parmesan cheese casserole which can be served as a side or a main dish.

It is pretty easy to do, and can be a great choice if you need to bring something with you to a cookout.

Left overs can be easily stored in fridge and re-heated in microwave.

Simple recipe to fry shrimps. I cooked shrimps in shell, but cleaned ones will work for this recipe as well.

Make sure you don’t overcook shrimps (turn them over as soon as meat becomes white), or meat will turn hard and shrimps will be hard to clean.

You can also use garlic oil instead of cooking garlic with oil, if you have it on hand.

Let’s bring liver back to the table: for as nutritious as it is, it doesn’t get nearly enough of the spotlight.

This easy recipe will help you to add all the goodness beef liver has into your diet.

I noticed that in US it is easier to find pre-sliced and cleaned liver, but in case you buy a whole piece, you will need to clean it, remove hard vessel parts and slice it up before continuing with the recipe.

Liver tastes great with boiled buckwheat, this is my first choice for a side dish for any main course with liver.

This salad is more advanced version evolved from Raw Vegetable Salad with Feta.

I added few ingredients: kale, celery, zucchini, corn, olives, mushrooms and a protein source, boiled chicken, to make things a bit more interesting.

I take this salad ingredients with me and slice them up at work for a healthy lunch. It only takes few minutes to do.

By the way, if you boil chicken right before making the salad, make sure you let it cool down to room temperature first.

For some weird reason this dessert is called “Snow White and Seven Dwarfs” in Ukraine. But it doesn’t make its taste any less than awesome: sourish prunes, stuffed with nuts on a bed of fluffy whipped cream.

Prunes can be stuffed in advance, in fact nuts will taste even better after few hours in prunes. And then whip cream and assemble dessert right before serving it.

By the way, you can use other nuts instead of pecans, for example walnuts or almonds, whatever you like more.

Rabbit meat is considered to be lean and overall healthy meat option. We were cooking rabbits pretty often at home in Ukraine. But here in US I was never lucky enough to see one in store.

This seem had changed recently: both, Whole Foods and Giant Eagle Market District in area where we live, now started carrying young rabbits (I hope it isn’t some kind of trial).

So I couldn’t resist, bought one and decided to share this simple and yet pretty tasty recipe for rabbit stew with mushrooms and sour cream. I hope you like it as much as I do.