In the Soviet Union’s go-to culinary encyclopedia, ‘The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food’, you encounter carrots in various soups, salads, main courses and even desserts. A substantial portion of these dishes still sounds appetizing to this day - and that’s what we were going for with this list!
1. Cream of carrot soup
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Creams are always on the diet side of things, and are very likely to appeal to those watching their figure, as well as vegetarians.
How to make: 800 gr. peeled, thinly sliced carrots in a pot, pour ¼ glass water, add 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and stew for about 7 minutes. Stir in ½ cup of rice, add 5 more glasses of water, cover and boil for 50 minutes; when finished, take out a little of the rice without the carrots, and pour the rest of the contents into a blender.
Mix the resulting puree with 2 glasses of milk and add salt to taste. When serving, add 2 tbsp vegetable oil and add the unblended portion of the rice back to the cream. Serve with croutons and herbs to taste.
2. Creamed carrots
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This vegetable side dish goes especially well with meat and fish.
How to make: slice up peeled carrots, bring to the boil, add a little stock or water (approx. 300 ml.), add ½ tbsp oil, salt and sugar, cover and stew for 20-30 minutes. Add hot milk: for 500 gr. of carrots, use ½ tbsp flour, ⅔ glass of milk, 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Carefully stir the resulting mixture.
3. Carrot and apple patties
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You’d be surprised, but battered carrots and apples taste as good as any chicken nuggets.
How to make: 1 carrot, peeled and grated. Add to a pot, adding ¼ glass of water. Stew until half-cooked. Add 1 sliced apple and continue to stew until apples are soft. Add 1 tsp semolina, add salt to taste, ½ tsp sugar and boil for 5 minutes while stirring continuously (important). Turn the resulting mixture into patties, batter in breadcrumbs and fry both sides in vegetable oil.
4. Carrot syrniki
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Carrots and dried fruit give this dish a bright orange hue!
How to make: Slice 1 carrot thinly and stew with 5 gr. vegetable oil with a small amount of water until the liquid evaporates. Leave to cool. In the meantime, add 15 gr. finely chopped dried apricots, followed by 120 gr. cottage cheese. Mix with 30 gr. flour, 15 gr. creme fraiche, 15 gr. sugar and half an egg into the dried fruit and carrots. Divide the resulting mixture into 3 parts, cover in flour, making a syrnik shape, and slather in 15 gr. creme fraiche, before sticking into the oven. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Bake for 20 minutes in a mold or a tray, smeared with oil. Turn halfway through.
5. Carrot, apple and nut salad
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As carrots are excellent for storing, and don’t cost all that much, they used to form the basis of many a traditional Soviet salad… not without slathering it all in mayonnaise, of course ("Olivier", "herring under a fur coat","Mimosa"), or, for something a little lighter - "Zdorovye". Here’s how to accomplish the healthier option.
How to make: 75 gr. carrots, medium-grated, 75 gr. apples, chopped. Whisk in 25 gr. honey into the apples and carrots, put in a salad bowl and decorate with 10 gr. parsley, adding 25 gr. slightly toasted walnuts.