Clarissa's Blog

I’m starting a summer clean eating marathon where I’ll be doing new fun recipes every day in order to try to change my very Ukrainian way of eating for good. I don’t think I’ll be able to publish all the recipes but I’ll share many of them. Here is the very first one.

For an easy transition, this is a cucumber salad with very Eastern European undertones yet a lot lighter than anything we eat as a standalone meal.

Cucumbers are spiralized and marinated overnight with thinly shaved red onions in somr vinegar with a bit of honey. On the next day, fresh dill and some plain yogurt are added. Salt, pepper to taste. Here you can see a slice of Ukrainian bread and a detox beverage (apple, lemon, ginger.)

If you add three pork kotlety, a pile of mashed potatoes and a dessert of cherry varenyky, this would be a very recognizable Ukrainian meal. But I’m trying to transition to a cleaner, lighter menu.

P.S. Fresh dill can’t be found in stores around here and farmers charge ridiculous prices sensing my desperation. In Ukraine, dill is a weed. Nobody pays for it. I totally need to start growing my own because I don’t have many dill-free summer recipes.