Beet Salad

Ingredients

• 3 medium beets
• 2 cups of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Boil the beets until they get soft but not too much and grate them.

In a small bowl mix yogurt, minced garlic and salt. Put the grated beets in a glass pan, add yogurt mixture and mix. You can decorate with dill or parsley.

Enjoy!

Celery Salad

This is a very easy and healthy recipe.

Note: This recipe is for 4 people, as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 1 celery heart
• 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts
• 2 cups of plain yogurt (Greek is better)
• Olive oil
• Mint and oregano

Preparation

Chop celery and put in a food processor, then take it into a large bowl. Add crushed walnuts, yogurt and a little bit olive oil, stir. Take it to a service plate and put the leaves of celery, dry mint and oregano on top of it to decorate. Enjoy!

Eggplant salad

I took this recipe from a friend. I guess this is a traditional salad in Eastern Europe.

Note: This recipe is for 4-5 people, depending on how you serve it.

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 cups of yogurt
• 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts
• 2-3 slice garlic
• Fresh dill
• Canola/vegetable oil

Preparation

First peel and chop eggplant in small pieces. 

Take them into a medium saucepan, add some oil, close the lid and cook them until they get really soft. You may need to stir occasionally to do that. If you do not want to fry, you can broil the eggplant 20 minutes in the oven.

It is best if you use the yogurt you made at home, but the trick is yogurt should be a little bit solid. In order to have that kind of yogurt, you can strain it from a clean cloth. Take the yogurt in a glass pan, first add the cooked eggplant and stir. Then add garlic and fresh dill. Lastly, add crushed walnuts.

The salad is ready. Enjoy!

Crimson Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a salad that was originated from Syria and Lebanon and spread through the other Middle East countries.It is also popular in Haiti, because of Arab immigration. I will share a Tabbouleh recipe with tomato paste, that is why I call it Crimson Tabbouleh.

Note: This recipe is for two people.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Bulgar wheat 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup vegetable or sunflower oil
• 2 green onions or one regular small onion
• 1/2 tomato
• Parsley
• Fresh dill
• Fresh mint
• 2 pickles
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons red flare pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1/2 lemon juice

Preparation

Put Bulgar wheat in a a large bowl which has a lid. Add boiled water on it, the water should be 1/2 inch above the wheat. The amount of water you used for Tabbouleh is important, if you add too much water it will be juicy, but if you do not add enough water, it will be crunchy. After adding water, close the lid tightly.If you do not have a lid you can put a plate or tray on top of it.

The point here is wheat should suck all the water before it gets cold. After 15, 20 minutes open the lid and take wheat to a large plate or tray. Add tomato paste and spread all over the wheat until it gets red. Like in the picture.

Then add oil and all spices, spread them with your hand. You can use a spoon as well, but it is always better to do it with hand. After tomato paste and all spices are spread evenly, add chopped onion, tomato, pickles, parsley, dill and fresh mint. You can also add small pieces of lettuce, if you do not have enough green. Lastly add lemon juice. Your Tabbouleh is ready.

Enjoy!