In September 2010 I arrived in Ukraine and was plunked down in a 2,000-person village to live with a host family and study Ukrainian for three intense months alongside four other Peace Corps Trainees. We became full-fledged Volunteers in December 2010 upon successfully completing – some say surviving – Pre-Service Training (PST).

Living with Ukrainian host parents who spoke no English – and not even pure Ukrainian – was often stressful. I felt like a grown-up baby for the first few (or more) weeks of PST: even though I kicked butt at “slap-the-correct-word” vocabulary games in Ukrainian class, I still had to painstakingly search for, write down, and memorize simple sentences before being able to ask my host mom if I could please do laundry.

PST was like climbing Mt. Hoverla, the highest mountain in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Fast forward to today, more than two years later. Now I speak Ukrainian well; my challenge lies not in communicating in day-to-day situations but in finding a way to express to my Ukrainian friends, colleagues, and students how much they have meant to me over the past two years.

With my departure looming, many daily exchanges pan out like this:

“Isn’t it too bad that you’re leaving? Won’t you miss it here?”

“Yes, I’ll miss it a lot. It has been wonderful to live and work here for two years.”

“But you could just stay!”

If only it were that simple.

Next stop: London!

Perhaps I could stay, and I probably would have stayed, if life hadn’t pointed me in a new direction: toward London.

I didn’t expect to be moving to London after the Peace Corps but I am thrilled to be doing so and look forward to continuing my adventures abroad. Life takes us in interesting directions, doesn’t it?

But let’s return to Ukraine for a moment.

Two years have been more than enough time for this country – its people, culture, language, and cuisine – to work its way into my heart, and it will probably stay there. From now on my head will whip around every time I hear someone speaking a Slavic language, hoping that it’s Ukrainian and that I’ll be able to strike up a conversation, or at least offer a “dobryy den” and a smile. I will order borscht every time I see it on a restaurant menu. I’ll probably end up thinking to myself, “Mama Anya’s borscht was way better than this.”

(My borscht is pretty darn good, too)

Ukraine has rubbed off on me, and perhaps a small piece of me will remain in this little southwestern Ukrainian town: the way that crazy American went running up and down the river in the mornings; the way I sat on the desk while teaching English lessons (a Ukrainian teacher would never do that); the way I smiled all the time and at everyone, regardless of whether I knew them personally or not.

Living abroad for over two years has expanded my perspective, and I believe that I’ve graduated from “travel enthusiast” to “citizen of the world.” I feel now as if I could make my home anywhere, and each place I live will only add to the parts of other places that I carry inside of me.

Or so I hope. Who knows what I’ll be saying in two more years? Keep up with me on EY to find out where life takes me!

We are all guilty of over-extending ourselves at times, but just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat healthily. Some of the best “on the go” snacks are high in nutrients. For someone like me that loves fresh fruit, smoothies are the perfect snack to grab on my way out the door.

Prep time for smoothies is pretty minimal (5 minutes tops!) You can use a blender or food processor to combine all of your ingredients together into one delicious drink.

For my smoothie, I used:

½ raw beet

½ banana

½ orange

¼ apple

1 tsp honey

6 oz. yogurt

This makes 1-2 servings depending on the size of your glass. To be honest, I was shocked at how good it tasted. I coaxed my grandma into trying it too and she loved it!

You can use any combination of the ingredients above and you can substitute a non-dairy product or even ice cubes for the yogurt.   Smoothies are forgiving and can be tweaked until they taste just right. The beets not only add a bright pop of color, but a surprisingly satisfying sweetness.  What a great way to start or end your day!

~Rebecca~

Rebecca Under the Influence of the Beet

So why not try it as a makeup?  Red beets provide a green alternative to the usual chemical dies found in commercial products and  can be unbelievably simple to apply.  For a light pink to deeper red lip stain, simply rub a raw slice of beet across your lips.  The color is safe and healthy and will last for several hours.

Want to create a more traditional lip gloss?  Simply mix beet juice with a small amount of olive oil and a touch of powdered sugar to thicken the mixture.  Other “recipes” call for melted beeswax and a mixture of castor oil and sesame oil all whipped together before introducing the beet juice. This recipe can be put in a container and used over time.

Beautiful, practical, healthy, easy and affordable.  Oh – and of course – tasty!  Get ready to kiss your old lipstick good bye!

The Otherworldly Beet

In Ukraine, this spicy sweet condiment or salad called khrin (хрін) is a traditional Easter dish, but it is known and used throughout the world under a variety of names and for a variety of purposes.   In the US, it is commonly referred to as Red <Beet> Horseradish and its bright pink color makes it an interesting addition to more typical condiments.

Ingredients

• 2-4 stalks of fresh horseradish, grated
• 1-2 raw beets, peeled and grated

Procedure

• Peel and grate raw beets. Let them sit for a little while and then squeeze the juice out.
• Grate the horseradish and put into a bowl (note: the grating of the horseradish releases an enzyme that creates its spiciness.  As the grated horseradish sits,  it will become spicier – to a point – however if left too long, it will lose that pungent flavor and become bitter).
• Add the beet juice to the horseradish and mix (note: adding the beet juice counteracts the enzyme and stops the spiciness from perpetuating.  Additionally, the beets add a sweet flavor which further mellows the horseradish)

Khrin is a delicious accompaniment to any sort of cooked or cured meat.

On that spicy note – Happy adventures in Ukrainian cooking-with-beets! Leave a comment if you have other favorite beet-related or Ukrainian recipes.

Смачного (smachnoho)!  ~Tammela~

Other names this (or a similar horseradish) dish is known by:

Central and Eastern Europe – khreyn or keen.

Poland  – ofchrzan

Czech Republic – křen 

Lithuania – krienai

Russia – хрен, khren 

Hungary - torma

Romania – hrean

Bulgaria – хрян,khryan

 Slovakia – chren

I know what you’re thinking…beet cupcakes?! Sounds pretty crazy, huh? For a beet hater like myself, I’ll openly admit to my skepticism. To me, beets are sickeningly sweet, but when they’re baked into pretty little treats, they can actually taste amazing!

You’ve probably passed beets in the supermarket without giving them the time of day and I can’t really blame you, but what you might not know is that beets are actually an incredibly healthy food – super foods in their own right. Joining garlic, green tea and flaxseed, beets can help prevent cancer. They have no trans fat, no saturated fat, are low in calories, and are a great source of iron.

The perfect beet is hard to come by; it should be deep red with roots extending from the bulb. Crisp greens are also a good indicator that your beets are fresh. You’re going to cut these off for your cupcakes (trust me, I tried it, they’re disgusting in cupcake batter and frosting batter.)

Follow the steps to make beet puree  from the beet margarita recipe (Beet Week Day 3). In a nutshell, you’ll be roasting 3-4 beets wrapped in foil at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. Unwrap, run under cold water and peel the skins off…they come off extremely easily.

Cut the beets into quarters (maybe smaller depending on the size of your beets), and put them in the food processor or blender.

3-4 beets will yield about a cup of beet puree. Set this aside.

Here’s your Beet Cupcake Recipe:

½ C Sugar

1 ½ C Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

½ C Butter (1 stick)
2 eggs

½ C Milk

2 tsp Vanilla

1 C Beet Puree

Depending on how big your cupcake pan is, this recipe creates about 12 cupcakes.

First, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl (sugar, flour, baking powder). Cream the butter in a mixer; if you don’t have access to a mixer, soften the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds and use a spoon to soften it up for your cake batter.

Whisk your eggs in a separate bowl and add the milk and vanilla to it. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir continually.

Once your batter is nice and creamy, fold (mix) in the beet puree.

Use a ladle or spoon to portion your batter into your cupcake pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

And remember, a cupcake is nothing without frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipe:

½ C Butter (1 stick)

8 oz Cream Cheese (1 package)

1 C Powdered Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer until malleable. Add the powdered sugar in SLOWLY; you don’t want it to splash back in your face. Finally, add in the vanilla and let the mixer go for 30 seconds or so. It sometimes helps if you take a rubber spatula and scrape down the sides so all of the deliciousness is contained.

I realize not everyone has pastry bags to pipe out their frosting (I’m lucky; my mom’s a chef!) Be resourceful though…plastic freezer bags can act as pastry bags. Put the icing in the bag using a rubber spatula.

Zip the plastic bag shut and squeeze the frosting down to one end. Hold the bag in a diamond shape so one of the tips is pointing down like this:

…and snip the tip off! Once your cupcakes are cooled, you can make them look pretty.

I bought all of my beets from local farmer’s markets. You might have one near you too! If you’ve never been to a farmer’s market, it’s a really cool place where you can buy fresh fruit, vegetables, and other goods to support your local farms.  As an added bonus, the  produce is usually much cheaper and fresher at farmer’s markets.  In Cleveland, (as in other places – see below* for a sampling) you can find them listed on one site: localfoodcleveland.org.

Enjoy your beet cupcakes! Please comment with pictures of your own cupcakes or other beet concoctions (:

-Rebecca-

*Many states, regions and cities have sites listing farmers markets- here are a few examples.

California

New York City

Chicago

Denver

Minneapolis/St. Paul

ps – during our experimentation with different recipes, we also tried these cupcakes with a canned chocolate frosting.  We found this to be a respectable (and tasty) alternative.

We first discovered this margarita at Light Bistro  in the trendy Ohio City  in Cleveland, Ohio.  There were two of us – one a beet lover and one – well – not so much.  The consensus?  DELICIOUS!  Sweet and Tangy and smooth as could be.  This could be a game changer for folks who’ve always hated beets.

Beet Margarita Recipe

1.5 oz Tequilla (they used Jose Cuervo – but we love Leyenda del Milagro Select Barrel Reserve Silver)

.5 oz Triple Sec

1 oz Roses Lime Juice

.5 oz Lemon Juice (increase/decrease lime and lemon juice to taste)

.5 oz Roasted Beet Puree (see recipe below)

Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice and pour directly into a martini glass.

Note:  Other recipes call for orange juice, cilantro syrup, muddled oranges and agave nectar.  Some use a salted rim and some a sugared rim.  Some serve the margarita in a traditional glass over ice.   Be brave – be bold – be beetiful!

Roasted Beet Puree

Preaheat oven to 400 degrees

Using Fresh Beets:

Remove greens (cut them off close to the beet)

Wash beets to remove any loose dirt

Wrap each beet in foil and place in 400 degree oven

Cook beets for 45 minutes

Remove the foil wrapped beets and let them cool to the touch by running them under cold water.  Skin should peel off easily.

Discard skins and use a food processor or blender to puree the beets (as smooth as you can get them).

If you are adverse to beets, be sure to use cheese cloth or a chinois strainer to drain juice and avoid beet particles in your cocktail.  If you’re a beet lover, you might enjoy the little bit of thickness from the puree, especially if you are pouring your margarita over ice.

Follow recipe above and mix, pour and drink.  BEETlicious!

As you all may know by now, I’ve been living in Ukraine as a Peace Corps Volunteer since September 2010 and thus have had plenty of time to taste – and sometimes cook – many traditional Ukrainian dishes. A lot of these dishes include the staple (mainly root) vegetables that grow so easily and abundantly here in eastern Europe: potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, and beets. It is amazing how many different combinations and variations one can create from just these five vegetables.

Most people are quite familiar and comfortable with cooking and eating potatoes, carrots, onions and even cabbage. But I have found that beets challenge and puzzle many cooks. They are a funny shape, have a thicker skin than potatoes or carrots, and are (usually) a deep red-purple color that stains almost everything it touches.

How the heck does one cook and eat a beet?

That is what I am here to tell you!

I developed a passion for beets several summers ago while shopping at farmer’s markets in the States. That first summer I experimented with beet preparation: I roasted, boiled, and sautéed beets, sometimes alone and sometimes with other root vegetables. Some dishes turned out well and some failed. Living in Ukraine for the past year and a half has expanded my how-to-prepare-beets horizons.  Following your introduction to Borscht, I shall now introduce you to some other classic Ukrainian dishes that feature beets.

These beet-sporting Ukrainian dishes, which are often made for holiday meals but are equally as good for regular consumption include salat vinehret (салат вінегрет), one of my favorite salads; and salat shuba (салат шуба; shuba means “fur coat”), which is a bit of an acquired taste.

Hope you enjoy!

Tammela

 салат вінегрет (salat vinehret) 

The vegetable proportions are generally about equal, but feel free to add more or less of anything, to your taste.

Ingredients

• 1-3 small-medium potatoes, peeled
• 1-2 medium beets
• 1-2 medium carrots
• 1-2 medium dill pickles (preferable homemade ones), diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• Oil, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

• Boil whole potatoes, beets, and carrots until cooked through. The beets will take the longest to cook – 45-60 minutes – so put them in first.
• Meanwhile, dice the pickles and onion and put them in a big bowl.
• When the root vegetables are cooked, peel the beets and carrots and let cool. When they are cool enough, dice the potatoes, beets, and carrots.
• Add diced root vegetables to the bowl and season with your preferred amount of oil, salt, and pepper. Mix, and enjoy!

салат шуба (salat shuba)

If you are a mayonnaise lover, you can add it in between every layer. But if you’re like me and are slightly mayo-averse, feel free to only add it to the top layer.

Ingredients

• 1-3 small-medium potatoes, peeled
• 1-2 medium beets
• 1-3 medium carrots
• 1-2 cups pickled herring, diced
• Mayonnaise, to taste

Procedure

• Boil whole potatoes, beets, and carrots until cooked through. The beets will take the longest to cook – 45-60 minutes – so put them in first.
• Meanwhile, dice the herring and spread it out on a large shallow platter.
• When the root vegetables are cooked, peel the beets and carrots and let cool. When they are cool enough, grate the potatoes, beets, and carrots but keep them separate.
• Spread the grated potatoes over the herring, smoothing them into a nice, flat layer.
• Spread the grated carrots over the potato layer.
• Spread the grated beets on top of the carrots. Add a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise and spread it around evenly, letting it mix a little with the beets.
• This salad looks beautiful when served in clean-cut slices that reveal the colorful layers.

I have been living in Ukraine as a Peace Corps Volunteer since September 2010 and thus have had plenty of time to taste – and sometimes cook – many traditional Ukrainian dishes. A lot of these dishes include the staple (mainly root) vegetables that grow so easily and abundantly here in eastern Europe: potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, and beets.

I have found that beets are the biggest challenge. They are a funny shape, have a thicker skin than potatoes or carrots, and are (usually) a deep red-purple color that stains almost everything it touches. Living in Ukraine for the past year and a half has expanded my how-to-prepare-beets horizons.

Even if you know nothing about Ukraine or eastern Europe, you have probably heard of borscht, beet soup (or stew, as I prefer less water-to-vegetables ratio). Borscht is healthy, offering many nutrients and antioxidants and protein in its meat and/or beans.

There are two main kinds of borscht: green borscht and red borscht. As far as I can tell, the main difference between the two is the green borscht’s lack of beets and slightly different ingredient set (additions to green borscht include preserved young cabbage, dill, and hard-boiled egg). Red borscht is what probably comes to mind when a non-Eastern European thinks of borscht: that rich, reddish-purple soup set off by a dollop of bright white sour cream.

It’s important to note that every borscht is different. Every Ukrainian has her own recipe and it rarely turns out the same twice. Borscht gets better with age; third-day reheated borscht is, by far, the tastiest.

Український Борщ (Ukrainian Borscht), Tammela’s Version

Ingredients:

• Meat of choice (I used two chicken drumsticks), or beans, or no protein at all
• 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
• 3-4 small-medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 large or 2 small-medium beets, peeled and grated
• 1-2 small-medium tomatoes, grated or chopped
• 1-2 tbsp tomato paste (depending on how tomatoey you want your borscht to be)
• ½ head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
• Oil (Ukrainians use sunflower oil, but canola/vegetable oil would work fine)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Fresh dill, chopped
• Optional: bunch of green onions, chopped
• For serving: dollop of sour cream; hunk of brown bread; peeled raw garlic clove(s)

Procedure:

• Bring water with meat to a boil, and simmer until it’s mostly cooked (cooking time will depend on the kind of meat you use; chicken cooks fast). Partway through, add the sliced onion to the water.
• When meat is mostly cooked, add diced potatoes and keep simmering until potatoes are cooked, 10-20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, grate the carrot, beet, and tomato, and sauté for a few minutes in a pan with some oil.
• Add sautéed vegetables to the pot and throw in the cabbage, too.
• Salt and pepper to taste, stir in some tomato paste, add the dill and/or green onions, and let simmer for as long as you like.
• Serve borscht with a dollop of sour cream (сметана, smetana), a hunk of brown bread (чорний хліб, chornyy khlib), and (if you’re really brave) a clove or two of peeled raw garlic.

If you are not up for trying your hand at borscht, there are a few other beet-sporting Ukrainian dishes, which are often made for holiday meals but are equally as good for regular consumption.  You can check them out here over the next few days as BEET WEEK continues!

~Tammela~

Ready for more delightful beet recipes from the Ukraine?  Click here