North Croatian Simple Beans Salad Recipes

CROATIAN SIMPLE FRENCH BEANS SALAD

Steps:

• Clean French beans, cut into 5 cm pieces and cook in hot water (throw it into hot water to preserve nice green color).
• Cook 10 minutes and than change water and cook until soft. Remove French beans from water and put into a salad bowl.
• While hot, pour over oil and finely minced garlic. You can also season it completely with vinegar (use water to dissolve vinegar if it is too strong) salt and pepper but cool it and eat cold.

NORTH CROATIAN SIMPLE BEANS SALAD

Steps:

• Cook beans until soft. Drain and put into salad bowl.
• Slice onion into very thin rings and add into beans. Season with salt and pepper. Mix water and vinegar and add into salad. Pour oil over and stir.
• Leave it in refrigerator at least one hour. You can keep surpluses in hermetically closed pot in refrigerator.

NORTH CROATIAN BEANS AND PEAR BARLEY STEW (RICHET)

Steps:

• Day before soak beans in cold water.
• On D-day change the water and cook beans until almost done.
• Finely slice garlic and bacon and put it in a pot. Melt lard and fry flour until brownish together with garlic and bacon.
• Add paprika and cold water to make creamy mixture.
• Wash barley and add into the pot together with drained beans.
• Add bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cook for 30 more minutes or until beans and buckwheat are soft.
• This meal must be almost like thick soup and not too hot.

NORTH CROATIAN BEANS SOUP

Steps:

• After soaking beans overnight, cook beans until soft. Drain the beans and put aside two teaspoons of whole beans.
• Make puree out of all other beans using blender (or whatever you use). Finely mince onion, garlic and bacon.
• Melt lard in a cooking pot and sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic and bacon and sauté it not more than 2 minutes.
• Add flour and brown it but not too much. Add cold water and make creamy liquid.
• Add hot and sweet paprika and stir.
• Add beans puree and whole beans, stir. Add bay leaf and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Add water and cook about 45 minutes.
• Before serving taste the soup, if it is not sour you may drop few drops of vinegar (if you do cook for more 5 minutes). Add sour cream and parsley leaves and serve.

NORTH CROATIAN FRENCH BEANS STEW ("CUSPAJZ OD MAHUNA")

Steps:

• Clean the French beans and cut into 5 cm long pieces.
• Boil the water and put French beans into boiling water and cook not more than 10 minutes. Drain the beans and put aside.
• During this melt lard and saute finely minced onion, than add flour and fry flour (not too much) with finely minced garlic. Add cold water and stir until you get creamy mixture, add paprika, salt pepper and vinegar. Add some more water, heat it and add French beans.
• Cover with water and cook until beans are soft or 30 minutes. At the end add sour cream, stir and serve.

CROATIAN ARMY BEANS

Steps:

• Soak beans overnight in water. Wash the beans and put it in fresh cold water unit it boils. Cook it for 10 minutes, change the water, and cook for more 20-30 minutes. Remove beans and put it in cold water.
• Melt the lard in the pot and add the sliced onion. Sauté the onion until it is soft. Add minced pancetta and sauté it for 5 more minutes, than add garlic. Sauté it for 1-2 minutes and add flour. Sauté it until the flour is slightly brown and than add paprika and chilli.
• Add water gently and make a cream of all ingredients. Than add beans and bay leaf and water to cover the beans. Cook for 1 hour on very gently fire. (in Croatia we have special sausages "cesnjovke" which we put in this beans and cook all together, but you can put any kind of smoked, dried meat - pork or beef).
• Very important to know is that you do not add chilli or any kind of hot paprika afterwards. Hot paprika must be cooked from the very beginning or you will suffer from very bad digestive process. We in Croatia always drink alcohol if we eat something hot, otherwise, you'll also have very bad digestive process. This meal is very good during cold winter, it renews your strength.

NORTH CROATIAN SIMPLE WHITE CABBAGE SALAD

Steps:

• Cut cabbage into thin strips and put into salad bowl. Season cabbage with salt, pepper, vinegar, oil and add some water (more if you do not like so sour or less).
• Mix all ingredients and wait at least 30 minutes before serving. You can cool it in refrigerator if you like it cold.