5 Vegetarian Serbian Dishes For Those In Need Of A Meat-Detox

5 Vegetarian Serbian Dishes For Those

In Need Of A Meat-Detox
In Balkans, Cooking, Food, Serbia by Natasa Franzisca Ivanovic20th September
2016 Comments

When people think of Serbia, they usually think of Siberia. So, were pretty
impressed as a country when people are able to assume Serbian cuisine is
mainly meat related. Now, being a vegetarian in Serbia, though its becoming a
trend, is usually seen as something a hipster would do or someone with one
testicle. However, in between the roasted pig and the stuffed meaty cabbage
rolls, youll find a dish thats meat free and shockingly isnt a loaf of bread or a
shot of Rakija. As being a vegetarian in Serbia, I rummaged the hills of my

homeland and found some tasty meat-free options. So, when youre exhausted
from eating cevapi or pljeskavica, give these a try.

Prebranac (baked beans)

We like beans. Im pretty sure its because back in the day beans were a cheap
source of protein so if you couldnt afford meat, you ate beans. However, dont
think that eating beans in Serbia is frowned upon, not at all unless you cant
control your gas. Prebranac is a baked bean dish which is usually eaten on
holidays where you have to abstain from meat. But when the weather is cold and
you need a cozy dish, this is a great option.
For 12 servings, youll need:

1 kilo of butter or Lima beans

5-6 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 cup of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of Hungarian paprika
2 cloves of minced garlic
4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
1.

Youll want to soak the beans overnight in a bowl of water. Its best to
change the water a couple times you may be wondering why, but trust me,
you know the song, beans beans the wonderful fruit that song doesnt
exist here, we dont suffer from post-bean farts.

2.

The next day, drain the beans. Put the beans in a pot and fill it with water.
For every cup of beans, use three cups of water. Bring the beans to a boil and

then reduce to medium heat. Youll want to leave them to simmer until they
become very soft. Depending on the beans youll use, the time varies but I
would allow for two to three hours of cooking time. Once soft, drain the water.
3.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

4.

Chop the onions and saute them in a casserole dish with the oil. You want
the onions to become very soft and translucent. Add a little salt to taste. Then,
youll remove the onions from the heat and add the paprika, mixing it well into
the onions. Add the beans, garlic and bay leaf into the onions. Season with
salt and pepper and add around 3 cups of water, mixing it smoothly together.
You want the beans covered in water, but not drowning in it.

5.

Place the beans into the casserole dish and put it in the oven for around an
hour. You want to keep an eye on it and make sure that the beans dont
become dried out. If that starts to happen, add some water. When its done,
the top layer should be a caramelized and a little dry, however, the beans
underneath the top layer will be super creamy.

6.

To serve prebranac, you want the dish to be room temperature. Typically,

its served with warm, crusty bread.

Gibanica (cheese pie)

Serbian history is known to be pretty brutal and heavy. However, through the
suffering, while Serbs are busy rebuilding Belgrade for the 44th time, the gods
said, give them Gibanica. It has fat, it has cheese and it has that soft filo pastry
shell that melts apart in your mouth. How can you hate warm cheese pie?
Exactly.
To make this lovely pie, thatll feed around 6 people, youll need:

500g of cottage cheese

5 eggs
2 dl cup of yogurt
2 dl cup of mineral water
1.5 dl cup of oil
2.5 teaspoons of salt
500g of filo dough
1.

Preheat your oven to 200F.

2.

In a deep baking pan, oil the pan and then line the bottom with two sheets
of filo. Remember to put aside two sheets of filo for the top of the gibanica.

3.

In a bowl, whisk together the cheese, 4 eggs, 1 dl of oil , 2 teaspoons of

salt, mineral water, and yogurt.

4.

With your mixture, youre going to take a sheet of filo and gently crumple in
your hands, dipping it into the mixture. You want to make sure the crumpled
sheet is completely covered in the mixture, and then place it in the pan. Layer
each moistened filo on top of each other, and fill the entire pan.

5.

Youre going to essentially start from one corner, and repeat step #4 until
youve filled the entire pan.

6.

Once youve filled your pan, youll notice that youll have excess mixture
left in your bowl, so youre going to pour the mixture over the entire pan.

7.

Then, on top, take the 2 filo sheets that you put on the side and cover the
pan.

8.

You want to then cut the pastry into squares.

9.

Now, with your last egg, youre going to whisk it in a bowl with 0.5dl of oil.

10. Spread the egg and oil mixture onto the top of the pastry, covering the
entire pan.
11.

Place your dish in the oven and leave it to cook for 30-40 minutes. The top
should be a golden brown.

Typically, this dish is served with a glass of yoghurt or milk.

Slatki Kupus (sweet cabbage)

This is a great option if your fridge is looking at little empty but conveniently you
have a cabbage sitting there, untouched. Cabbage is really inexpensive in
Serbia, so its used in many traditional dishes. Usually, its cooked with pork or
beef, but every so often you can find a non-meat infused cabbage dish.
For a serving of six, youll need:

1 head of a sweet cabbage

1 carrot
2 white onions
1 tomato
teaspoon of minced dried vegetables
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 tablespoons of parsley
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of minced red peppers
100 ml of oil
1 bell pepper (optional)
1 bay leaf

1.

Youll want to remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it in half and
remove the root.

2.

Chop the cabbage into small pieces or you can also grate the cabbage.

3.

In a pan, add the oil and chopped onions. Add a little water and leave it to
stew.

4.

When the onions are transparent, add the carrot and bell pepper, leave it
to cook for a couple minutes.

5.

Then add the cabbage, bay leaf, and salt with two cups of water. Cover the
pan and leave it to simmer on medium heat. While its cooking, you want to
make sure that the cabbage is always in water, so you can add more water
when you see that its drying out. The more water you add, itll turn out
soupier.

6.

After about ten minutes, add the minced red peppers into the pan.
Continue cooking the cabbage, add the ground pepper and dried vegetables.

7.

Slice the tomato into small cubes and add it to the dish. Stir and leave to
boil. After a couple minutes, add the garlic and parsley. Leave to simmer for
ten to fifteen minutes.

There are a lot of ways to eat slatki kupus. You can eat it on its own, with rice or
potato, or of course, the traditional way with bread.

Sopska Salata
Its hard to find an authentic Serbian dish since, in the Balkans, we all have the
same food, just with slightly different variations to it. This salad actually originated
in Bulgaria, however, its so popular here, many people just assume its ours. I
know, its a salad, but this one is so delicious, I swear. You can eat this 100 times
and never get bored of it. Plus, if you love cheese, its a great excuse to feed
your addiction.
For six servings, youll need:

500g fresh tomatoes

500g fresh peeled cucumbers
200g fresh red peppers
200g fresh green peppers
60g onions
1 hot pepper
teaspoon of salt and pepper
70ml of oil
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
150g of grated feta cheese
1.

Cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

2.

Place the vegetables into a bowl, cut the onions into rings and finely chop
the hot pepper. Mix them into the vegetables.

3.

Before youre about to serve the salad, add the salt, pepper, vinegar and
oil. Mix well.

4.

Finally, grate the feta cheese on top.

5.

Then eat all the cheese and grate some more.

Palacinke (Salty or Sweet Pancakes)

This is the easiest yet tastiest dish to make. Serbs love palacinke. If youre on the
streets of Belgrade, youll see tons of people munching on Nutella filled
pancakes. Can you blame them? You can eat them salty, you can make them
sweet theyre the 24/7 dish. No one will judge you if you become a palacinke
addict, we all are.

For approximately 12 pancakes, youll need:

3 eggs
kilo of white flour
liter of milk
Oil for frying
Salt
1.

Whisk the eggs together in a mixing bowl. Once whisked well, slowly add
flour and make sure to whisk as you add. Then, add in the milk. Continue
whisking. Add a pinch of salt.

2.

You want to whisk the mixture until its completely smooth. Make sure you
dont have any clumps of flour floating around in it.

3.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in the pan. Once hot, use a ladle to pour a ladle
size of batter onto the pan. This part needs to be fast, so right after you pour
the batter into the pan, spread the batter around the pan, thinning out the
batter as much as possible. Wait a couple minutes until you flip it over to the
other side. Youll know when to flip it once you see that the batter is not longer
loose.

If you want salty pancakes, you can put cheese, sour cream, spinach you cant
really go wrong. Put whatever you want in it, just make sure you eat it while its
hot.
If you want sweet pancakes, typically in Serbia we put in Euro-cream or Nutella,
plasma, jam, and/or sugar.

If you were nervous about not being able to find any vegetarian options in Serbia,
dont worry, you wont starve. Try out one of these dishes and youll be happy you
did.
Prijetno!