POLISH SOUP: ZUPA BURAKOWA (BEET SOUP)

I loooved this Polish soup as a child; however, I HATED beets. I hated the texture of grated beet so much that I use to ladle the soup trying my hardest to avoid any beets. This time, as an adult, I decided to make this soup my way.

I diced the beets instead of grating them. I ended up calling my mom about 3 times as I was making the soup. I thought this was going to be so much harder then it actually end up being. Like my mother said, it's a mix of sweet and vinegar taste you want to get and that's a personal preference.

I really loved how this turned out. Hope my friends Charlie & Paulina get to make this Polish vegetarian soup. It is quickly is becoming a winter favorite in my house. Enjoy guys. 

TIP:
- You can boil more then the number of beets you need & freeze the other half.
- Leave the cream out of soup until you are ready to eat. Adding into your bowl instead of the pot.
- The more vinegar you add the more likely the cream won't mix in the soup.
- If you forget to add vinegar right after the beets & loose color, boil another beet, grate yo regain the color.


 
Burakowa; Polish beet soup!
4-6 servings

2 large beets, or 4 small
4-5 medium potatoes
2-3 whole spice
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 carrot (diced)
1/2 celery stalk (diced)
2-3 TBS vinegar or to taste
1/4 tsp sugar, or to taste
8 c. broth or water
1 vegetable bullion cube ( optional, if using already made broth)
half & half /  vegan creamer, unflavored

Beets:

Cut any leafs & roots off the beets. Wash & take off any dirt. Submerge beets in water and boil in a pot for 30 - 45 min. depending on the size of beets. Check with a fork for softness. Once done, drain beets and set aside to cool. When beets are easy to handle, peel with potato peeler. On a vegetable grater, grate the beets on the larger side. You can also dice the beets, as I did. Set aside

Broth:

Boil water / broth. If using, put in your bullion cube. Simmer on medium to low heat bay leaves, whole spice, carrot, celery, and potatoes until potatoes are pierced easily with a fork (about 10 min).

IMPORTANT : When adding the beets, have your vinegar measured & ready. Vinegar need to be added right after the beets in order to keep the red color.

After adding the beets & vinegar, add sugar, salt pepper to taste. Simmer for another 5-10 min. Serve in a cup or bowl along with a 1 TBS of cram, half/half or vegan creamer.

I'M BACK!

I haven't posted for a month?! This winter thing really has paused my cooking. There is 30 min of sun when I get home from my new job! Ugh. Excuses, excuses.


I love winter. I love cooking winter vegetables. I Ula, am a squash-aholic. I really can't help myself when it comes to a beautiful squash. expect to see plenty squash action up in here!

PEANUT NOODLE DRESSING AND DIPPING SAUCE

I really, really enjoyed this sauce. I put it on my maifun noodles with some stir fry. It will work for about  two servings of maifun noodles. Anything more would be loose the peanut taste. I will be making some egg rolls and using this as a dipping sauce this weekend.


This peanut sauce can be made not spicy. This part is really up to you. As well as the salt content. That's the beauty of making your own food. I originally made my own peanut butter and never added salt. I ended up adding extra soy sauce to make up for it.



Quick notes:
Makes 2 servings for maifun noodle sauce
Can be thinned out with more hot water.

SPICY PEANUT NOODLE DRESSING AND DIPPING SAUCE

2 large garlic cloves ( pressed or minced)
1/3 to 1/2 c hot water
1 to 1 & 1/2 TBS soy sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 TBS red miso (or white)
1 to 1 1/2 TBS spicy Thai chili or chili powder to taste
2 to 3 TBS lemon juice
1/4 c green onion (chopped) optional

Measure and mix all ingredients in a bowl with a fork or a whisk. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 5 days.

WEEK IN PICTURES

1. Local jam from the farmers market.
2. Kichi (a.k.a shadow kitty, a.k.a. Vernon)
3. Mixing paint to silk screen.
4. Could NOT read Eat Sleep Sit. It was just so so boring and I had to put it down. Started reading Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Ch'an Buddism by Sheng-yen. As you can see I found the Buddhism section at the Jersey City library. The kitties were playing around me. Kichi is looking down at Fat Baci.
5. Moved some plants around. Now my tree is next to...
6. OUR NEW ARMCHAIR!?! Found this beauty at the Newark Salvation army for $25 bucks. About to steam clean it this week.
7. Sneak peak at the new design that I slaved over. I will also post how I created the new design. Lots of photos.

30 DAY NO COFFEE CHALLENGE, still.....

It's not that I need coffee. I don't need coffee. I want a cup of coffee because I want a cup of coffee, damn it.

This has been quite the experience for me. I thought it was going to be a breeze. The first week was easy. It was also the week my boyfriend was out of town. Sometimes I wanted coffee but settled for a cup of tea which was great. 

The second week was okay...until....I stayed up 36 hours doing a freelance illustration gig for the company my boyfriend works for. I didn't had any coffee. That's right! I stayed up for 36 hours and there was no coffee involved. There was a lot of stress, panic and deadlines.

This third week I am just irritated that I'm not having a coffee when I feel like having a coffee. This is harder then I imagined it to be. I am looking forward to the same thing my BFF mentions below.

Comments from Sara:

It smells soooo good in the morning. I heard Gene stirring his coffee downstairs today as I was waking up. It was such a yummy sound. And he buys the good shit. I blame his 50% Cuban tounge. 

I was groggy the first few days, but wasn’t so dependant on coffee enough that I was in any real withdraw. For me now, it’s just a taste thing, especially since I always had it at least half-caf. I can’t wait for a nice Half-Caf French Vanilla Soy on a chilled October day. <Content Sigh>

CHICKPEA MAGAZINE ISSUE 1

I received an email form Bob and Cara asking if they could feature my Powered by Veggies tee in their new online magazine. I of course, was more then happy to provide some food content as well.

Check out my contribution in the new Chickpea Magazine.

WEEK IN PICTURES

1.Bell on door.
2. Dollhouse.
3. Things to frame.
4. Vintage ashtray.
5. Wall tapestry.
6. Walk in closet.
7. Bookshelf.
8. My friends mother when she was a child.
9. Records & a lava lamp.
10. Retro chair my friend got from her mother.
11. Milk glass with change on a bookshelf.
12. Rainbow bright bank.
13. Newark salvation army store.
14. Train ride from central Jersey back to Newark, then PATH to Jersey City = exhausted.
15. Goodreads: Eat Sleep Sit, My year at Japan's most rigorous zen temple by Kaoru Nonomura.

WEEK IN PICTURES

 

1.Pears form the farmers market. Really hold off so I can think of a dessert to make but I just made a pumpkin pie....may just eat them before I think of something to make.
2.Acorn squash, also from the market. Roasted with olive oil and salt.
3.Roasted sweet potatoes with garlic, olive oil and crushed red pepper. MMmmmm fall food.
4.Mixing blue colors.
5.Etsy photo's I took for Sophia Design Shoppe.
6.Sunflower. Seller at the market: " What are you going to do what that?" Me: " Eat it!" And I am. One by one as I make my tea in the morning.

30 DAY NO COFFEE CHALLENGE !

: /

I really do enjoy a good cup of coffee (or latte). I'm just really picky, unsatisfied with the coffee that's been happening in my apartment. I feel like it's a very confusing time for me as a coffee drinker. I mentioned before we switched out our Chemix for an automatic coffee maker.

Before everyone starts telling me to get a french press, I would just like to say that I have one. It doesn't solve my need for an automatic coffee maker. I really wanted a timer so my coffee would be ready when I woke up. If  I was going to use an automatic coffee maker I don't want to do much at all. When I wake up in the morning, cold and sleepy, I want the coffee ready.

Buying a coffee maker was it's own issue. We researched and realized the all coffee makers basically suck. They all don't get the water to the right temperature of 195-200 F. That's the reason why the coffee at a coffee house tastes better then the one at home.

We purchased a coffee maker anyway for about $100.00 from amazon. com. It never brewed a cup. It wouldn't drip. Also, no timer. We returned it and ordered a $60.00 automatic coffee maker. The coffee sucks, unless I BOIL WATER AND THEN POUR IT IN THE COFFEE MAKER. Even then it's okay. Not great.

Madness.

When boyfriend went off on a week long business trip and I decided to NOT deal with making coffee.

 

After a facebook conversation (I erased the other comments. It was super long) and few emails with my BFF Sara, we decided to do a 30 day no coffee challenge. It's tea for me for the next 30 days! My darling boyfriend is SUPER excited...

I hear it takes 30 days to form a new habit.  I know it's not solving my need for a hot beverage magically appearing for me when I wake up but I figure that drinking tea is a better for me then coffee.

Right now it's day 5 and I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.