Since I am in Bulgaria right now, there is hardly a better tribute to Bulgarian summer than the tarator (таратор). When I was a kid it was a fixture of our summer menu – for lunch and dinner. Incredibly simple and fast to prepare – it can bright up the summer menu.
Category: vegetarian
Chilled English peas soup
English peas are one of my favorite spring ingredients, and this recipe is another re-incarnation of the English peas puree with mint. If you simply thin the puree with some liquid – voila! you have got a soup.
Agnolotti dal plin stuffed with English peas and ricotta
For the longest time I had a phobia from anything that involves dough (so no bread or any type of baking) but recently I have been getting into pasta making with increasing success. Agnolotti dal plin (agnolotti with a pinch) is the first pasta I learned in a cooking class, and this is the second…
English peas purée with mint and Bulgarian feta
This is a great spring dish – that I love to serve with lamb.
Caramelized fennel and grapefruit salad
This dish is a faster and easier variation of the braised endive and citrus salad. This salad still has the great color and freshness of the citrus, but the fennel has plenty of its own aroma, so doesn’t need the addition of spices.
Braised endive and citrus salad
This is a new salad that I learned during the recent cooking bootcamp at the Culinary Institute of America.
Arugula and Parmigiano Reggiano salad
This is one of my go-to salads – both for a weeknight dinner and for a fancy dinner party.
Cauliflower soup
This soup is great comfort dish for cold winter days – especially given that your choices of fresh produce a limited. It is very quick and easy to make, and you can store it in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it.
Brussels sprout salad with sun-dried tomatoes, almonds and feta
I copied / reverse engineered this recipe from one of our favorite restaurants in San Francisco – L’Ardoise where Chef Clement serves it with goat cheese and Balsamic reduction. My version pays homage to Bulgaria with the feta cheese. This is a perfect winter salad when your choices of fresh produce are limited. The almonds give…
Imam Bayildi (translation: the priest fainted) – stuffed eggplant
This is one of the classic dishes of Turkish cuisine, and it is also popular in Bulgaria. The name of the dish in Turkish – imam bayildi – literally means the priest fainted, or I would say, the priest went into a food coma. The dish is completely vegan.
