Mama's food

As I write in my About Me, "I grew up in a house where my Russian-Jewish Mama was always able to add a pinch of this and a dash of that to create flavorful, meaningful, natural dishes, that stood at the core of our family closeness."

During a brief visit to my parents' home last week, I got to experience some of these dishes and some of this closeness. 

My days started out with breakfasts of delicious tomato, onion, and pepper quesadillas, which my Mama dolled right up with sliced avocado and banana and peaches and mango. (She was always the one who was great at food presentation).

Other beautiful and amazingly yummy foods I got to experience included my favorite version of the Russian dish solyanka (front and center), vegetable lasagna (upper left corner), and the classic Russian salad vinaigrette (upper right corner):

I tried to look up recipes for solyanka online, but all of them linked to things totally unlike the dish I know and love. Wikipedia suggests that it is a "thick, spicy and sour soup" made with fish, meat, or mushrooms. But in my Mama's version, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots, onions, tomatoes, fresh dill, and fresh garlic take center stage.  I'll try to wrestle a recipe out of her soon , so you can all recreate it at home.