I was recently looking at the cherga rugs my grandmother made many years ago. Cherga is a traditional Bulgarian word for hand-made woolen textile made of colored yarn. The green, red, yellow and black strips weave and form strong and vivid cloth - it is beautiful. Today, as I was cleaning the vegetables, I decided to "weave" a vegetable cherga. Here it is...
Grate the carrots into a bowl. Chop the leaves of a few strings of mint or lemon balm and add them. Mix the olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice in a jar or blender. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper and blend well. If the taste of the lemon is too strong, add a pinch of brown sugar. Add the dressing to the bowl and toss the carrots.
Traditionally, the Easer festive dinner starts with fresh green salad. There is only one important thing in preparing green salad - drying the lettuce leaves before tossing them, because the extra water will dilute the dressing.
When it comes to cooking stinging nettle, the maxim "no pain, no gain" is totally valid in the kitchen. That is, of course, if you, like me, do not follow the popular advice of using latex gloves when handling the nettles. My fingertips are numb from the tiny needles but the dish is totally worth it. Today, I made a quick and easy appetizer.
Last week, as I was exploring the eco-trails of the Tryavna Balkan, I met a very chatty guy and his 4-year-old son. They were on their way to pick up fresh nettle plants. This reminded me of the delicious nettle soup that my grandmother used to cook every year in the very beginning of spring. Here's the recipe.
