Three best lean dishes for Christmas Eve: step-by-step recipes
Christmas Eve in Ukraine is currently celebrated on December 24. This is the evening before Christmas, when the family gathers for dinner, when 12 dishes are put on the table, each with its own symbolic meaning.
Traditionally, the dishes are supposed to be lean. According to Ukrainian traditions, the main dishes of Christmas Eve are kutia and uzvar.
Read also: How to choose the right not bitter poppy seeds for kutia
About the best recipes for kutia and uzvar you can read in our previous articles, and today we offer you recipes for lean cabbage rolls, salads, and dumplings.
Dumplings with cabbage
For the dough you need to prepare: about 0.5 kg of flour, 250 ml of water, 2 tbsp of oil, a pinch of salt.
Ingredients for the filling:
- Sauerkraut - 300 g
- Dried mushrooms or fresh champignons - 50 g
- Onion - 1 pc.
- Salt, pepper - a pinch each
Preparation:
- Leave the dried mushrooms in water overnight. Then boil them for 20 minutes in salted water, drain in a colander and chop.
- Peel the onion, chop it finely and fry it until golden brown. Add sauerkraut and chopped mushrooms, simmer for 10-15 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
- While the filling is cooling, prepare the dough. Mix the flour, oil, water and salt, and knead the elastic dough. Roll out the dough and cut out circles with a glass.
- Put the filling on each circle and make dumplings.
- Boil the dumplings in salted water for 5-7 minutes. It is best to serve cabbage dumplings with fried onions.
Lenten cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
- Cabbage - head
- Rice - 150 g
- Carrots - 1 pc
- Mushrooms champignons - 10 pcs
- Onion - 1 pc
- Tomato paste - 2 tbsp
- Salt and pepper - to taste
How to cook lean cabbage rolls
Take a medium-sized head of cabbage, wash it, and peel off the top leaves. Put the head of cabbage in boiling water and gradually gently separate the leaves one by one. Cut off thick veins from the cooled leaves.
Prepare the filling. Boil the rice until half cooked and cool. Chop and chop the onion. Fry the onion in vegetable oil until golden brown, add grated carrots and mushrooms. Mix the onion with the minced meat, rice, salt, and pepper.
Put the filling in the center of the cabbage leaf. Wrap the cabbage leaf in an envelope to prevent the filling from falling out. Put the cabbage rolls in a large saucepan, cover with water to halfway and simmer for 40 minutes.
Vinaigrette with chickpeas
Put 2 beetroot, 2 potatoes and 2 carrots in the pot. If possible, bake the vegetables to give the salad a richer flavor.
While the vegetables are cooking, finely chop 3 pickles, put them in a deep bowl, chop an onion, add a can of canned chickpeas (200 grams), or boil the chickpeas in salt water.
Peel the boiled vegetables and cut them into small cubes. Combine the chopped ingredients in a deep bowl, drizzle with oil, and stir.
Here's a recipe for "liquid kutia" dressed with uzvar .
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