Tuesday, October 27, 2009

quickie halushki


I've been working in NYC for the past few weeks, commuting from Philly every day -- hence my recent absence from the blogosphere. I usually arrive home tired, starving and ready to sucuumb to my extensive take-out menu collection.

Halushki is a humble Polish-Slovak dish from my childhood. It's simply noodles, cooked cabbage, and onions [I also tossed in some mushrooms, for good measure]. It may look austere, but the flavor combo is sublime: the sweet onions and cabbage dance a mean polka with the starchy noodles. Halushki is pure comfort food. It has prevented me from ordering out many times, since it's so pathetically easy to make – especially if you use store-bought noodles or pasta. It's also incredibly economical.

Halushki How-Tos
Halushki is one of those recipes that everyone makes differently, so it would be sacrilege to give you exact proportions. However you make it, you really can't go wrong with these complementary flavors.
  1. Roughly chop one head of green cabbage, an onion or two, and some garlic and mushrooms, if you like. Saute in Earth Balance until soft.
  2. Season with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper.
  3. Meanwhile, boil your noodles--about 2 or 3 cups dry. Ideally, you should make your own noodles, and cut them in shapes to mimic the squarish chopped cabbage and onions [For a recipe, see my cookbook]. But if you're too busy or tired, store-bought pasta is absolutely fine.
  4. Gently toss the drained, cooked noodles with the cabbage. Adjust seasonings and enjoy.

23 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Awesome dish!


Hope you'll be in NYC when I am :)

JENNA said...

I feel like I've eaten that dish before. Regardless if I have or have not I can't wait to try your version. Tonight!

Lori Maffei said...

Sounds good!

bazu said...

I've never had halushki before, but it seems right up my alley! I'll be sure to make it very soon... mmm, cabbage...

Abby Bean said...

Yum: buttery (Earth Balance) pasta is a comfort food of mine and I'm anxious to try this with loads of cabbage and my favorite "pepper": pink. Any idea why my pink peppercorns keep jamming my expensive peppermills, though? I realize it's a berry, but how else should I grind it?

urban vegan said...

Abigail: Try a mortar and pestle?

Alone in Holy Land said...

We had the same dish back home in Romania when we were kids and I "imported" it here in Israel also. Even my 3 years old daughter likes it (as she is a very picky reader). I don't know though if it came from the Hungarian or Polish side of our family...

Mitsuko said...

Defo what I was looking for! Hearty, comforting, cabbage-based food... Yum!

Unknown said...

Interesting. I've never had halus(h)ky without something gross being put on it, i.e. bacon. I'll have to try your version.
Also, I only know this as a Slovak dish (its Slovakia's national dish actually). I asked for it in Poland and got odd stares.

Stasa said...

Sounds like total comfort food and a must try! Thanks for sharing@

buffalodick said...

New one on me, sounds good though..

K. said...

That's awesome! My fiance's Hungarian grandmother used to make 'haluska' and I have made a vegan version a few times. Your recipe is very similar. I usually add some tofurkey kielbasa. YUM!!!

julie hasson said...

I love cooked cabbage and onions. Great quick meal idea Dynise!

Anonymous said...

thanks for this wonderful dish...i am a slovak/hungarian mama who was raised in cleveland and grew up with this dish as well...i love the vegan version and it truly is one of those comfort dishes that has totally translated well into a comfort vegan food. the next thing i have to nail down are stuffed cabbage...i love stuffed cabbage...cheers!

Anonymous said...

It looks great. I'll have to try it out one day. I just found your blog and am enjoying reading it!

Unknown said...

You made the first page of the Health section of Daily Hampshire Gazette in MA! In the article on Vegan cooking. Congrats to you.
-POIS-

Mihl said...

I just made this and it is very delicious!I love how easy it is. I'll definitely make this again, thanks for the recipe.

MplsCathy said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post! Coincidentally, I was having a tremendous cabbage craving before I discovered your blog in search of vegan recipes. I made it last week, and again last night. I just had some of the leftovers for lunch...and now I'm in my happy place. There is just something so satisfying about it. My heritage is Wisconsin Belgian and Czech, my boyfriend and stepdaughter are Northern Minnesota Ojibwe - we are all HUGE fans of halushki. Fans for life. Thank you for sharing!

marta said...

Halusky is a typical Slovak dish, not Polish. And it's not pasta, but something between dumplings (but without any stuffing) and italian gnocchi. They look lite this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/HaluskyzoZiaru.JPG/300px-HaluskyzoZiaru.JPG

They can be served with cabbage, but I've eaten them with bryndza - it's a salty sheep cheese, a bit like feta. This is, I think, the most popular version.

Dani said...

Oh that looks tasty! I love it. I'm Danielle btw :)

olga spaceage said...

Marta is right - those are not halushki (since they are dumpling made from some runny batter ;) but lazanki - other popular in Central Europe noodle dish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazanki
no matter if they are halushki or lazanki - they looks great! :)

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