Tag: onions

Instant Pot Traditional Kapusta: sauerkraut and dried peas

Sauerkraut and peas, admittedly not my favourite dish for Sviata Vecheria, but the traditional recipe is far easier and faster to make in the Instant Pot. Made with dried green split peas, this Instant Pot version eliminates the overnight soaking time.  Also, the cooking time is decreased, and you can make it ahead and reheat for your Sviata Vecheria.

Update: I’m honoured this recipe was featured in the Kyiv Independent’s article about Sviata Vecheria under Vegetables. The Kyiv Independent is a great source for English-language news about Ukraine.

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Instant Pot Ukrainian Potato Soup

This is a recipe for a simple and easy potato soup.  How is this potato soup more Ukrainian than regular potato soup? This comes from some variations on potato soup that were in my set of Ukrainian women’s cookbooks but also the memory of my baba’s creamy potato soup. Plus, this one has added Ukrainian-ness with cabbage and a cup of sour cream that makes it extra creamy.

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Summertime Morel and Mixed Mushrooms in Cream

With morel mushrooms in season, it’s time for this simple recipe – easier to make in a pan than in the Instant Pot because I’m using fresh mushrooms.  For a dried mushroom recipe for winter, check out Instant Pot Pidpenky – Dried mushrooms with gravy.  This side dish has cream with dill and green onions.  Serve it with roasted meats, perohe or egg noodles.

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Instant Pot Easy Creamy Summer Borscht

This version of borscht is meant for the spring or summer.  It uses young beets and beet leaves along with fresh, summertime ingredients like dill, fresh peas and fresh broad beans.  Don’t have those things? Frozen dill, frozen peas and canned broad beans make great substitutes.

Also, a new technique that makes Instant Pot borscht-making even faster!

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Instant Pot Pidpenky – Dried Mushrooms with Gravy

This traditional recipe works with any kind of dried mushrooms – morels, cepes, or shiitake.  And, using the Instant Pot saves more than an entire day of soaking time.  If you want to forgo even that hydration time, use fresh mushrooms like cremini.

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Instant Pot Traditional Chicken Soup

Chicken soup is one of those things that’s special for everyone.  This is the way that my baba would serve her chicken noodle soup.  First off, she made her own noodles from scratch.  But, you can get great egg noodles that have that rustic feel at the store.

The key is that she served the noodles separately from the soup.  Everyone could add that they wanted at the table.  Plus, serving cold noodles cooled down the soup for kids.

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Mushroom Vushka – Dumplings for borscht

These beautiful little boiled dumplings (also known as tiny varenyky and ooshka) are filled with tasty mushrooms and dill.  The first recipe I’m adding that doesn’t use the Instant Pot! Boiling isn’t recommended in there.  But, we’ll save time by using pre-made dumpling wrappers.

These boiled Vushka (вуха) are meant to look like pigs’ ears.  They are served inside a bowl of borscht and make the Christmas Eve dinner of Sviata Vecheria special.

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Vegetarian / Vegan Instant Pot Borscht

Як ви готуєте борщ? (yak veh ho-too-yet-eh borsch) I’ve been learning Ukrainian with Duolingo.  It’s been fun and sometimes frustrating.  The other day, the lesson asked me Як ви готуєте борщ? How do you cook borscht?

Here it is.  This is a vegan borscht with a lot of flavour, and it’s pretty straightforward.  I save time by using pre-cooked beans and pre-cooked onions.  A quick steam for the beets makes them easier to peel.  And, dill and beet leaves (or swiss chard) adds a fresh flavour in the middle of winter.

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Instant Pot Mashed Beans – Kolocheni Fasoli for Sviata Vecheria

Beans are a fairly pedestrian thing. This recipe made for Sviata Vecheria, the Ukrainian twelve-dish meatless Christmas Eve meal. As such, it’s made with vegetable oil and is totally vegan. With a cup of Instant Onions, you’ll save even more time on your way to Christmas Eve.

Mashed beans may not look like much but they’re tasty and garlicky.  They’re kind of the Ukrainian version of refried beans.

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Instant Pot All-purpose Instant Onions

Onions.  They go with everything, don’t they?

It’s the first step to so many recipes – heat oil or butter and saute onions, blah, blah, blah.  So simple.  But, time-consuming.  My baba would simmer onions on low heat in butter for what seemed like hours. They never browned and these aren’t caramelized.  They’re just wonderfully cooked onions.

My solution: chop and cook a lot of onions all at once in the Instant Pot.  Maybe use some now, freeze the rest to use later.  Then you’re covered when you need a fast topping for those frozen perohe (Sure, the box or bag says perogies but you’re stubborn and call them perohe). Or, you just want a head start on filling some traditional cabbage rolls or some summertime beet leaf holubchi.  All-purpose onions are here for you.

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