Azeri Shepherd Salad

    This salad one of my favorites and I like it in any season and anytime with my main course food or separately with fresh baked bread or with dried rusk, but not sweetened. It's full of vitamins, digestive friendly and healthy salad. According to my knowledge, I can say that it was called "Shepherd Salad" because it's easy, takes less time and cost less for preparing, as all vegetables are chopped.
    I improved this salad a bit for taste of my husband and depends on the food. So I make it with two different ways.

                              Ingredients for Original Shepherd Salad:

•  Fresh Cucumber;
• Fresh Tomato;
• Fresh Green Pepper;
• Fresh Green Hot Pepper;
• Fresh Vidalia Onion or Spring Onion;
• Coriander/Cilantro;
• Basil;
• Salt.

    Just need to wash vegetables thoroughly, and cut them into medium pieces, add its salt, mix and it is ready to eat.

Ingredients of My Improved Shepherd Salad:

• Fresh Cucumber;
• Fresh Tomato;
• Fresh Green Pepper;
• Fresh Green Hot Pepper;
• Fresh Vidalia Onion or Spring Onion;
• Fresh Lettuce;
• Coriander/Cilantro;
• Parsley;
• Fennel/Dill;
• Basil;
• Salt;
• Grapeseed Oil.

    Here you've to wash all vegetables thoroughly again and cut them into small pieces, add its salt and mix. After mixing it add its oil and keep in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes and you can serve it.

    One more secret of this salad: You can add any of vegetables from recipe more or less for your taste and because of this I don't write how many cucumbers, tomatoes and etc. is necessary for making this salad. Enjoy your meal and be always healthy!!!

Fur Coat Salad

Fur Coat Salad is very healthy in every season and especially, in the summer when we want to loose our extra weight, but same time stay healthy .

Ingredients:

Beet root 3pcs;
Carrot 5pcs;
Potato 2pcs;
Egg 4pcs;
Sour Cream as much needed;
Fennel 1 bunch;
Smoked Herring 1pcs;
Salt;
Black Ground Pepper.

For Designing:

Radishes 1/2 bunch;
Parsley 1/2 bunch.

All ingredients has to be cut into small and same size shape. Beets, carrots, potatoes, eggs have to boiled and cooked well, but keep their shape, then all ingredients have to be cool down. Take any flat big plate and start from herring to make one layer, then with order potato, fennel, carrot, salt, pepper, beets, sour cream, then continue with same order until finish all your vegetables and on top cover with additional sour cream . For desining cut cleaned and washed radishes into circle shape and design around salad. Cut parsley in mid size and design top of salad.

Keep it in refrigerator about 2 hours, then serve.

Bon Appetite!

Dolma with Grape Leaves

   Dolma With 
            &
  Without Sauce

    Dolma is Azerbaijan national food, you can cook it in any season, but mostly spring, summer and autumn with fresh leaves, but winter with canned leaves. We have a 3 kinds of  Dolma, and here is one of them.

For Dolma we need:

- 1pcs Vidalia or Red Onion;
- 1 bunch of Fennel;
- 2lb/1kg Canned or Fresh Grape Leaves;
- 1/2lb/250gr Rice;
-1lb/500gr Ground Beef;
-1/2lb/300gr Ground Lamb Meat;
- Salt;
- Olive Oil;
- Black Ground Pepper for Taste.

For Sauce:

- 3 cloves of Garlic;
- 1/2lb/300gr Yogurt;
- Salt.

Dolma's ingredients has to be cut into small pieces and mix with ground meat, and add its salt and pepper. Grape leaves has to cook separately 5 minutes. After everything is ready need to fill each grape leaves with ingredients and wrap them in the shape of fat pen, but short and accurately, after arrange them inside pot, then add approximately 300gr water and olive oil, and cook it in low temperature on stove.

For sauce garlic need to squash and mix with salt and yogurt.

Nush Olsun!!!

Capital Salad

My dear readers,

Capital salad actually is Russian salad, but some years before Azeris began to make it too, but they'd changed few ingredients to make it more delicious and healthy for all seasons.

Ingredients:

- Fresh Cucumber 6pcs;
- Pickled Cucumber 5pcs;
- Canned Green Peas 300gr;
- Potato 2pcs, but if its big only 1pcs;
- Carrot 6pcs;
- Fennel 1 bunch;
- Spring Onion 1bunch or Vidalia Onion 1pcs;
- Egg 5pcs;
- Chicken (breast meat only) aprx:2 full breast without bone and skinless;
- Sour Cream 1.5lb/680gr;
- Yogurt 1/2lb/200gr (just who wish to make it lighter and juice a bit);
- Salt;
- Black Ground Pepper.

All ingredients has to be cut into same small shape and size. Only carrot, potato, egg and chicken has to be boiled and cooked well but with one condition that vegetables not to get mashed. When cooked vegetables are ready take it out of water, and let it get cold then mix all cut ingredients and add salt, pepper, sour cream and yogurt. Food has stay in refrigerator 5-6 hours before serving, then enjoy your tasty, healthy salad with your family or with your friends!

AzerIra Soup

It was night and I'd decided to prepare lunch for next day for my husband. While I'm preparing lunch I saw in storage container some remain parts of vegetables, which was washed and cut before, but wasn't used for food as they were less, and I decided to use them to make a soup for dinner and I created this soup.



- Oat (100gr);

- Yellow Split Peas (50gr);

- Potato (1pcs);

- Chicken Wings (2pcs);

- Onion(1pcs);

- Garlic (2teeth);

- Vine Tomatoes (3pcs);

- Carrot (1pcs);

- Egg (1pcs);

- Coriander (how much you wish);

- Sweet Red Pepper (1/2pcs);

- Salt (1tbs);

- Red Pepper Powder (hot (1ts));

- Olive Oil (2 tbs);

- Dried Lime (2pcs);

- Laurel/Bay Leaves (1 leaf).



I just cut ingredients into small pieces except chicken wings and added water, then boiled it until fully cooked, then added coriander.



This portion is for 4 persons. Bon Appetite! How we say in Azeri "Nush Olsun!" or in Farsi "Nushe Jan!".