Beetroot and cherry soup

Despite the odd combination, this is actually very good. Allegedly, it's meant to be an effective anti-inflammatory, but even if it doesn't work as the original recipe intended, it is very tasty.

500 g beetroot (raw, not pre-cooked)
4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped into halves or thirds
2-3 cloves garlic (not in the original recipe, but I thought it worked well)
1-2 onions
2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, roughly chopped
1 thumb-sized piece turmeric root (or 1 tbsp dried, powdered turmeric, which is what I used)
1 tbsp cinnamon
250 g tart/sour cherries (you can probably buy them frozen; they should be depitted in advance)
400ml tin coconut milk (or to taste)
750ml - 1l stock (vegetable or chicken)
salt, pepper, cayenne or chilli to taste
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Wrap the beetroot in foil (if you like, you can peel it first, which is what I did, although I understand it cooks better in its skin and then you can peel it). Put the beetroot and carrots on a baking tray and cook for about 45-60 minutes (the carrots might be ready before the beetroots, depending on the size). When ready, take the beetroots and carrots out of the oven, and, if applicable, peel the beetroots. Chop the vegetables up into smaller pieces.

While the root vegetables are cooking, gently cook the onion, ginger, garlic, and turmeric in a large pot. When ready, add in the beetroot and carrots, cinnamon, cherries, coconut milk, and about a cup or 2 of stock, plus the seasoning and olive oil, and blend it all together using a hand-held blender. Add in more stock as desired to thin the soup.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes or so. Serve with some bread on the side.

It's very good. Really.

Kasukas, AKA "Fur coat salad"

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law, and another one where, like monkey gland sauce, you shouldn't mind the name. Use only the finest fur coats in your salad. Since it's Estonian, you should probably use bear or fox fur. It gives it a real Baltic taste.

This makes plenty. It's worth the effort, trust me...

2–3 potatoes, boiled and grated
3 large carrots, boiled and grated
2 big apples, grated
5 eggs, hard boiled. After boiling, keep the yolks and the whites separate. Chop the whites up finely.
2–3 pickled herring fillets (I find the German variant to be a bit sweet for my liking, so if you can, use a Baltic brand), finely chopped
1 or 2 smallish onions
400 g beetroot, boiled and grated
300–400 g mayonnaise
300–400 g sour cream

This is a layered salad, but it might be a bit bland, so read to the end of the recipe. The order is as follows:

Grated potato, mayo, herring, sour cream, onion, mayo, egg whites, sour cream, carrot, mayo, apple, sour cream, beetroot, sour cream, in that order. You can leave out one or two layers of mayo or sour cream, but make sure to add one or the other on top.

Add seasoning between some layers, and leave to sit in the fridge overnight. Before serving, crumble the egg yolks over the top. Enjoy.

Puy lentil, rocket, beetroot and feta salad

For some reason, salads aren't something that I do very well. My wife does, though, so I borrowed this from her. It was very nice.

This should feed 3 or 4, depending on whether you are serving it as a meal or as a side.

Ingredients:
Salad:
1 cup Puy lentils, cooked according to package instructions
2 boiled beetroots, diced in 1cm cubes
1-2 (red) onions, sliced
200g feta, crumbled
Handful of rocket per serving
Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
4-5 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp raspberry (or red wine) vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Place all the salad ingredients except the rocket in a bowl and mix together. Mix the dressing and pour over the salad. Place a handful of rocket on each plate (according to appetite) and serve the salad on top.