Authentic Moldovan Borsch {Recipe}

This is one of my favorite meals my mother and grandmother made when I was a child and although I don't consider myself a very good cook (ok...ok...just being modest here), I can say I've mastered the Borsch. It's somewhat of a common eastern European soup, originally from Ukraine, that varies from one country to another (even one family to another), but of course I like the Moldovan one best. I've made this for many a gathering and the recipe has often been requested, and even begged for. You know who you are. Don't say I didn't share.

I think it's a pretty simple recipe, but it can take awhile because of all the vegetable grating and chopping. If you have a food processor with a chopping setting (which I don't...sniff...sniff), it will significantly cut down the amount of prep work involved. All ingredients can be found in your grocery store.

Difficulty: medium

Prep time:  25 min

Cooking time: 40 min

ingredients

Onions	2 (medium)	White or yellow. You can also use leeks, or both. Diced.
Carrots	2 (large)	grated
Bell Peppers	2 (medium)	I like to use red ones and just dice them
Beets	2 (large)	peeled and grated
Cabbage	1 head	shredded
Tomato sauce	2 cans 8oz	it tastes even better if you make your own by peeling and blending tomatoes
Potatoes	3 (large)	cubed
Oil	3 tbsp	I use Sunflower Seed oil in all my cooking
Stew pork	1 pound	you can use chicken too or meatless
Bay Leaves	3	I add them with the meat and remove them before any vegetables are added
Lemon Juice	4 or 5 tbs	don't use lime juice
Water	15 cups	to boil the meat in. Or use half water, half meat or vegetable stock/broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream and chopped fresh parsley	1 tbs each	For garnishing and optional

step by step

Step 1: Wash the meat, remove any unwanted fat and cube in bite size pieces. Fill up a tall pot with water (about 15 cups), place the meat in it, grind black pepper and add a couple of bay leaves. Boil on high to a rolling boil. An important step not to forget is to remove the foam that forms when the meat begins to boil. Turn to a medium heat and cover with a lid.

Step 2: While the meat is boiling: peel your carrots, onions and beets. Grate the carrots and beets. Dice the onions and peppers.

Step 3: Wash, peel and cube potatoes

Step 4: Remove the outer layers of the cabbage. Cut in half and then shred/julienne starting from the middle, as pictured.

Step 5: Saute vegetables. First add the onions, then the carrots and then the peppers.

Once onions are translucent add the beets and let cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and turn down the heat. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove from heat.

Step 6: Once the meat is cooked, remove the bay leaves and add the potatoes. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. When almost done, add the cabbage. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Step 7: Add the vegetable mixture, lemon juice and salt to taste. Cook on low for another 10 minutes. (You can go longer if you have the time.)

My husband likes it served with a tsp of sour cream, but I like it as is. In my opinion it tastes best with sour-dough bread. 

My 4 year old is not very adventurous when it comes to food, but she absolutely loves this one. It tastes even better on the second day, as all the ingredients have time to marry together pretty well. 

We even have a joke in Moldova about this:

"Do you like a day old Brosch?"

"Yes"

"Then come over tomorrow!"

Hugs,

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Zucchini Chicken Rice Pilaf {Gluten Free}

Zucchini and Chicken Rice Pilaf {Gluten Free}

Difficulty: medium

Prep time:  10 min

Cooking time: 25min

Ingredients

Onions	1 (large)	you can also use leeks, or both
Carrots	1 (large)	I actually forgot to add the grated carrots, but I usually do
Oil	3 tbsp	I use Sunflower Seed oil in all my cooking
Rice	1 1/2 cups	I used brown rice, but white works too
Rotisserie chicken	1	I made 3 different meals from one roasted chicken. You can also used just cooked chicken breast
Bell Peppers	1 (large)
Zucchini	2 (medium)
Fresh cilantro	2 tbsp	these are for garnishing at the end and it is optional
Feta cheese	1/2 cup	for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste       step by step

1. Gather your ingredients. Chop your vegetables.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat add the oil. Add onions, salt and cook, 

stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent. 

3. Add the peppers and zucchini. Note that I did not peel the zucchini. I find that when 

I peel them, they just turn into mush once cooked. 

4. Add rice and cook, stirring, until rice grains are opaque.

5. Add water or chicken broth enough to cover the mixture. Bring to a boil and 
then add the cooked chicken.

 I transferred into a pot because I couldn't find the lid for my large pan. Cover, reduce

heat to simmer, and cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Turn off heat but let rice sit for 

5 minutes undisturbed. Uncover and fluff with a fork.

Serve garnished with feta cheese and parsley.

I like to make this meal with any variation of vegetables that I have in my fridge. 

It is a quick and simple but still pretty yummy. An added bonus is that it is gluten free.

Do you like zucchini? What do you like to use them for?

Linking to these awesome parties.

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