Great soup, if you have turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving or if you just wish to have a rich, hearty soup for lunch. Any part of turkey will be good (I cooked mine from turkey neck and some leftovers). It takes 30-40 minutes to cook and the taste is amazing. The key to great taste are tomatoes and herbs.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

2/3 lb of Turkey meat

1 white onion

1.5 cup of boiled pinto beans (boil separately or canned rinsed very well)

½ can of diced tomatoes

2-3 potatoes

½ of red bell pepper

½ teaspoon of cumin

½ teaspoons of basil

½ teaspoon of oregano

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of salt.

1 carrot (optional)

3 quarts (approx.) of water;

1/3 cup dill

Prepare the vegetables: peel onion, carrot and potato. Wash everything carefully.

Shred the carrot, cut the potato in mid-sized chunks, and finely chop the onion. Set half of onion aside.

Wash and chop the red bell pepper.

Take a 4 quart pan, put the turkey meat and cover it with water (approximately 3 quarts), set on medium heat and wait until it starts boiling. Take away the scum if any. Add salt, pepper, bell pepper, carrot, potato and onion. Boil for 15-20 minutes, then, add the tomatoes(canned diced tomatoes) and spices: cumin, basil, oregano. (if you have fresh herbs basil ,oregano etc. – add them at the end). Let the soup boil for 10-15 more minutes and then, just before serving add the finely chopped dill.

Serve warm, with toasted bread or garlic bread.

Tomato and avocado salad:

This salad is my #1 summer salad. I can eat it every day 3 times a day.

It’s very fast and simple to cook and as we all know avocado is very good for your health, so I try to eat it as much as possible. Read more

Tomato, Onion and Lemon basil vinaigrette:

Fast salad for dinner or lunch.

Minimum ingredients and maximum delight:-)

Will taste best with mashed potato and meat, or rice and fish. Something not s picy and not sour. Read more

Simple fast salad with romaine, tomato and pickles 

This salad is sweet and sour combines rich sweetness of tomato and balances it with sour pickles. Add some herbs to give it more rich flavor and you can either mix it with mayo or olive oil, will be very delicious anyway. Read more

Cabbage and honey smoked turkey with cornichones

Stuffed cucumber salad with apples , red pepper and cherry tomatoes

These two salads may be cooked separately and not be stuffing for a cucumber.  Cabbage and honey smoked turkey with cornichones is a delicous combination and works great as the independent salad, or as the stuffing for the cucumber salald of 1927.

Stuffed cucumber salad with apples and red pepper may be an independent salad as well.  The key to this salad is steamed red pepper that enhances the flavor of apples and tomatoes. Add some meat to the salad (as ham, turkey) and it will be more nutritious. Read more

This is a traditional recipe in my family, as well as in pretty much any Ukrainian family fried zucchini with tomato and mayo-dill sauce. It’s resembles a lot the eggplant recipe, but, zucchini, as a base component gives it a different twist. For the recipe you’ll need

1 midsized zucchini

1-2 tomatoes

2-3 tablespoons mayo

½ cup of finely chopped dill

1 clove of garlic (optional)

1 egg

2 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon of water

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of black pepper

5 tablespoons cooking oil

Wash zucchini, cut it in full round slices (they shouldn’t be thick- about ¼ inches) and rub in salt and pepper, let it stand for 5 minutes. Take an egg, mix it with some water and pour the flour on a separate dish. Set a frying pan on medium gas and add some cooking oil, then: cover zucchini slice in flour then put it in egg-water mixture and put frying. Repeat with all the slices. Fry zucchini from both sides until soft inside and has golden brown crust.

Meanwhile: wash your tomato, dill. Cut tomato in slices or half round slices (depending on how big the tomato is). Mix mayo with finely chopped dill and add a little bit of salt.( you may add pressed garlic to the sauce, if you wish). Put the fried zucchini on the plate, cover it with mayo dill sauce and put the tomato slice on top. Repeat with all the zucchini slices. You may put zucchini in layers , as I did.

The dish should be served warm and may be served cold; is good with mashed potato and meat, or with salad, also the dish is very good when cold; in sandwiches.

Enjoy!

This recipe is as simple as 1-2-3!

You can make it with pasta from a store but it’s more tender and delish if you cook it yourself. The detailed recipe for the homemade pasta may be found here.

The alternative brief recipe is here:

2-3 eggs;

1/3 melted butter;

1 cup of flour;

1/3 cup of lemon basil finely chopped;

Melt the butter, cool it off. Whisk the eggs and butter, then add lemon basil and flour.

Knead the dough for 10-15 min. Split your dough into two parts. Cover the table surface where you will roll out your dough with some flour. Using a dough roller roll out a thin layer of dough (don’t forget to cover the table surface with flour before rolling out your dough layer. Fold your thin sheet of dough 3-4 times into a roll (remember you should have enough flour inside the roll, so that your pasta wouldn’t stick)

Cut your dough into the thin pasta strips.  Aerate your pasta. Give it some air! See the pic here

Repeat with the second half of dough (don’t forget, the dough layer for your pasta should be thin);

Filling:

1/3 lbs. minced pork meat;

1/3 lbs. minced beef meat;

1 carrot;

½ white onion;

Pinch of salt;

Pinch of black pepper;

1 clove of garlic;

2 tablespoons of cooking oil;

1/3 cup of basil, lemon basil

Shred your carrot and finely chop the onion. Press the clove of garlic. Mix the meats with the carrot and onion; add the pinch of salt and black pepper.

Preheat the frying pan at medium heat. Add oil and the meat with veggies mix. Fry the meat for 5-10 minutes occasionally stirring.

***Tip from Helen*** you can also add the red bell pepper to you meat, it will be more flavorful ***

Set the 3-4 quart pan half full of water, when the water start boiling, add a pinch of salt and boil your pasta for 3-5 minutes.

When pasta is soft, drain the water and add your pasta to the frying pan with meat and veggies. Stir your pasta very well, so that it would mix with meat and all the juices.

Add herbs: lemon basil, Italian seasoning!

Your pasta is ready!

Enjoy!