Slovenian Recipes

the Slovenian-inspired salad had become one of our favorite dishes. It is a tasty twist on a familiar salad that is normally based on bulgar wheat.  Made with buckwheat instead, it is unusual and perfect for entertaining. A low-sodium version would be a challenge, because one of the key ingredients is feta cheese.  I resolved to try it with cubes of my homemade salt-free curd cheese, pressed and cubed, then doctored up with paprika, onion, and pumpkin seed oil. Without the tang of feta, the salad tasted a little bland.  So I had to make a few adjustments: more spice and a tangier dressing. For the recipe and the verdict, read on. Low-Sodium Kasha Mediterranean Salad with Curd Cheese   Salad: 1 c. dry whole buckwheat groats or kasha, cooked in 1 ½ c.  salted water 1 16 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained 6-8 oz salt-free curd cheese (or paneer),  cubed * 4 small/medium tomatoes, diced 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded...

This is the simplest approach I have found to making curd cheese, otherwise known as farmer cheese, bakers cheese or (if you are Slovenian) as skuta. These recipes appear under a variety of labels.  Curd cheese and farmer cheese seem to have given way to Indian paneer or Italian ricotta in popularity. But they are all variations on a theme: simple, unripened cheeses, in which an acid is used to separate curds from whey. The recipe below can easily turn into paneer, if enough moisture is pressed out. Technically, it is not really ricotta, although it makes a decent substitute.  Ricotta means "re-cooked" and is based on the whey that is left after making a rennet-based cheese. This is an approach more than a recipe.  You can experiment and adjust.  The only absolute no-no is ultra-pasteurized milk, because it won't work. A helpful and amusing comparison of the various approaches to making this style of cheese can be found on Serious Eats Hom...

I wasn't sure this particular dish could survive without the salt.  I wasn't  too worried about the change in taste.  But I was concerned that the salt might be an essential component of the paste. It provided texture that the powdery paprika by itself did not.  I suspected it might play a role in tenderizing the chicken or sealing in the juice. But it was worth a chance.  So I made the dish with the easiest possible substitution: A commercially prepared no-salt seasoning mix. I am not a big believer in pre-mixed seasoning blends.  We rarely use them.  But I happened to have one on hand: Mrs. Dash salt-free garlic and herb blend.  So that's what I used. The verdict? The chicken cooked beautifully on the grill.  We sliced it and arranged it on a platter.   My husband had prepared two salt-free side dishes: a mixed green salad and kasha with mushrooms. As always, the chicken was moist and delicious.  Everything was low-so...