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Ingredients:

2 large eggplants
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves
3 cups oil. Could use less, but will take longer to cook.

Directions:

Slice the eggplant lengthwise, about 1/2″ wide, as pictured.

Cut slices into strips, about 1/2″ wide as well. If the strips are too long, you can cut them in half.

Place the eggplant strips into a strainer/colander. Add salt and mix gently, then let sit for about 30 minutes to let some of the eggplant juice drain.

Meanwhile, place the red pepper and the garlic in a blender and blend until everything is crushed.

Pour the crushed pepper and garlic into a bowl and drain the juice. Set aside.

In a medium size pan, heat the oil on medium-low temperature until hot. Add the eggplant to the hot oil and fry until golden brown. If you want to use less than 3 cups of oil, you can do so, but you will be able to fry less eggplants at a time, therefore it will take longer to cook.

Remove the eggplant from oil, and set o a plate lined with a paper towel, in order to absorb the oil.

Gently mix the eggplant with the crushed pepper and garlic, and serve.

Serving suggestions: Serve warm or cold, as an appetizer or as a side to complement any dish.

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Moldovans call this recipe Cabbage Salad. It’s basically similar with the popular coleslaw, but it also uses some different ingredients, which provide a unique flavor. It is a savory, refreshing summer salad, a Moldovan favorite, especially when grilling out. It tastes as good during the other seasons too!

Ingredients:

1/2 small cabbage, or about 8 cups shredded cabbage
12 radishes, or so
1/2 large cucumber
1/2 medium onion
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 and 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup diced dill weed

Directions:

Using a knife, thinly shred the cabbage as pictured below.

Cut the radishes, onion and cucumber into thin slices.

Add the salt to the shredded cabbage and lightly rub it together using your hand.

Add the sliced radishes, cucumber and onion.

At the end, add vinegar, oil and diced dill weed. Mix everything together. Serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions: You can serve with barbecue/other grilled meats, or actually with anything, really. It’s a delicious, healthy salad, so you can have it anytime!

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A very simple, easy to make spread, that will beautifully garnish any meal.

Ingredients:

2 large or 4 small red beets
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon salt, or adjust the amount to your taste.

Directions:

Boil the red beets in water, until soft, so that you can easily insert a fork into them.

While beets are boiling, crush the garlic using a garlic press.

When beets are done cooking, remove from water, peel and finely grate.

Mix in the mayonnaise and salt. Serve.

Note: To garnish, I used green onions and boiled red beets to create the decorative rose.

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Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup feta cheese
1 and 1/4 cup finely shredded mozzarella/cheddar cheese
fresh dill weed for decorating

Directions:

Cut tomatoes in slices as pictured below.

Arrange tomato slices on a serving plate.

Crush the garlic using a garlic press.

Mix with the mayonnaise. Spread over tomato slices.

Using a fork, crumble feta cheese.

Spread feta cheese on top of the mayonnaise and garlic.

Spread the shredded mozzarella/cheddar cheese on top of the slices.

Decorate with finely diced fresh dill weed.

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Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
4 green onions
1/2 green bell pepper
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 tablespoons oil

Directions:

Slice tomatoes and place in a medium bowl.

Slice cucumbers, cut up pepper and green onions.

Add them to the tomatoes, including salt and oil. Mix everything and serve.
On top of the salad, I sprinkled some crumbled feta cheese, for a more appealing presentation. This is optional though. Pofta Buna!

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Ingredients:

1 can sweet peas
2 green onions
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place peas in a small bowl. Chop the green onions and add them to the peas.

Add the rest of the ingredients, mix with a spoon and serve.

Serving Suggestions: Usually this salad is served with grilled meat.

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Be sure, you’ll impress all your family and friends with these cute ladybugs. And if you got kids, they will simply LOVE them. I know this because my two year old did too.

Ingredients:

15 thin slices of a baguette
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup finely crumbled feta cheese
1 green onion
a couple romaine lettuce leaves
8 cherry tomatoes
8 large pitted black olives

Description:

Chop the onion very fine.

Mix together sour cream, feta cheese and onion.

In the oven, broil the baguette slices for a couple minutes – optional. Arrange on a large plate or platter.
Take about 1/2 tablespoon sour cream spread at a time and spread on each slice of bread.

Tear or cut the romaine lettuce leaves into pieces about the size of the baguette slices.

Place the lettuce pieces on top of the slices covered with the spread.

Cut the olives and tomatoes in half, lengthwise.

Cut the tomatoes from the bottom end to the middle, as pictured below.

Cut about a third of each olive, as pictured below. Set aside. They will be used to make the ladybugs heads.

Using a knife with a sharp pointy tip, make about 4 tiny holes into the tomatoes, 2 on each side. Cut small pieces from the remaining pieces of olives, and place them into the little tomato holes, as pictured below.

Using the same principle, make 2 tiny holes into the olives we will be using for the ladybugs’ heads. These will be the eyes. Fill them with small pieces of feta cheese.
Arrange the tomatoes on top of the lettuce leaves, then add the olive pieces in front, right next to them, as pictured below.

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This one is a family favorite, passed down for generations. It is a vegetarian version. You can prepare just the stuffed peppers, or just the stuffed cabbage leaves. Like my mom, I like to combine the both. I believe they taste better together. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

4 medium onions
1/2 cup oil
4 carrots
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups medium grain rice
4-5 bell peppers
1 whole fresh cabbage

Directions:

Prepare the stuffing:

Dice the onions and grate the carrots.

Add some water to the rice, to soak.
Pour oil in large skillet, heat, then add the onions.
Just when onions are softened, add carrots and cook until carrots are soft. Do not overcook.
Add tomatoes, salt and black pepper and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
Drain water from the rice. Add to the mixture. Set aside.

Prepare the peppers and cabbage:

Peppers: With a knife, cut around the top of the peppers to scoop out the stems and all the seeds. Be careful to make sure the peppers stay whole. Rinse the peppers inside, and make sure no seeds are left.

Cabbage: Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a boil.
Take the cabbage and one at a time, cut the leaves at the base and remove them from the cabbage head. Take out as many leaves as you can. Be careful not to break. It’s better to use the larger leaves on the surface, that are not torn. Place a few cabbage leaves at a time in the saucepan with boiling water. Boil for about 3 minutes, just until the leaves are tender. Do not overcook. Remove from the pan without breaking and set aside.

With a spoon, fill the peppers with the rice stuffing, then place in the slow cooker.

Carefully remove the hard parts at the base/middle of the cabbage leaves, then cut in 2-4 sections, depending on the size of the leaf.
Take each piece of cabbage leaf, spoon some rice stuffing on it. The amount of rice stuffing depends on the size of the leaf. Then roll the cabbage leaf, to make sure you got the rice well covered. Use as much cabbage as you need in order to finish up all the rice stuffing. Place in the slow cooker, filling in the gaps between the peppers.

Add 1/2 cup of water. Cover everything with leftover cabbage leaves, either steamed or fresh. Cover with the lid and cook on high for 4.5 hours.
Remove the cabbage leaves from the top and serve. Pofta Buna!

Serving suggestions: This dish is normally served with sour cream. Add a fresh salad for a complete, healthy meal.

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There are several variations of the famous Red Beet Borscht. Here I am going to share my mom’s recipe, my favorite of all. It has a tangy taste, because of the lemon juice used in it. It is quite easy to make and very nutritious too.

Ingredients:

1 small onion
1/3 cup oil
1 carrot
1 large red beet
1/2 medium cabbage
2 teaspoons salt
3 medium potatoes
7 cups of water
1 can (16 oz) pinto or red kidney beans
1/2 cup fresh or canned diced tomatoes
1 lovage herb leaf, or if you can’t find it, you can use 1 small celery stalk as an alternative.
about 3 branches of fresh (preferably), or 1/4 teaspoon dry thyme
1/4 cup fresh or 1 teaspoon dry parsley
2 tablespoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dry dill weed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
sour cream to serve with the borscht.

Directions:

Chop up the onion. Heat the oil in a large, deep cooking pan, then add the onion to saute.

Meanwhile, cut up the carrot, red beat, cabbage and celery, if you’re using that instead of the lovage.

When the onion is starting to soften, add the carrot, red beet, cabbage, celery (if that’s what you’re using) and salt.

Cook until cabbage is starting to soften.
Cut up the potatoes.

Add them to the other vegetables in the pot, then pour the water on top.
Bring to a boil. Add the beans and tomatoes.
Boil until the potatoes in the soup are softening.
Add the lovage herb (if using), thyme, parsley, dill weed, black pepper and lemon juice. Cook for 3-5 more minutes, then remove from heat. Cover and let sit for at least 10 minutes. This will help the flavors blend better.

Serving Suggestions: Pour borscht into bowls and add about one tablespoon of sour cream in each bowl. Makes about 8 servings. Pofta Buna!