When I ask foreigners what the best Polish dish is they often say sour soup and dumplings. Many countries have their own recipes for dumplings, but apparently only in Poland are there so many types of stuffing. We can have dumplings for every occasion. We have dumplings with meat, dumplings for vegetarians and, especially for children, sweet dumplings, for example with bilberries and sour cream. It is worth mentioning royal dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms for Christmas Eve.

We like the most dumplings with meat, and "ruskie" with potatoes, cheese and onion. Sometimes I prepare dumplings with oyster mushrooms, spinach, buckwheat groats and cheese. This time I decided to prepare dumplings with lentil stuffing. I used green lentils, which are harder than red ones, and the stuffing is more compact and easier to cover with the dough.

Ingredients
dough
500g of flour
4 tablespoons of oil
250-300 ml of boiling water
a pinch of salt
stuffing
100g of dry green lentils
2 cloves of garlic
1 big onion
4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper

People like barbecues. Eating outside has an unusual charm. Sometimes the weather plays a trick on us, and instead of a blue sky we have grey clouds and rain. Even then we don't turn away from the barbecue. I use an electric grill and eat what we prepare.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a very summery dish. Grilled pork tenderloin pickled in mustard, soya sauce, and plum stew is excellent. My family love it. I wonder how often I would have to prepare this dish to get bored with it. Now even my son, who can find something wrong with every dish, eats grilled pork tenderloin without fussing. I serve grilled pork tenderloin with fresh salad and beetroots.

Ingredients:
500g of pork tenderloin
marinade:
100ml of oil
2 tablespoons of plum stew
2 tablespoons of French mustard
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 twigs of rosemary
2 twigs of thyme
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of oil for frying

The outright king of my summer kitchen is risotto. We love the creamy taste of the seeds of arborio rice. A few basic ingredients, a few additions and every time we have a new dish.

This popular dish comes from north Italy and always contains rice, shallots, butter, wine and bouillon. It is interesting that risotto is the first dish (primo piatto) served before the main dish, and it takes turns with soup and pasta. That is how it should be in an Italian restaurant, but in my home risotto has always been simply a yummy dinner.

This time I prepared lemon risotto with curcuma, peppermint and smoked salmon.

Ingredients (for two people)
150g of arborio rice
1 shallot
1l of vegetable bouillon
3 tablespoons of butter
100ml of dry white wine
a half teaspoon of curcuma
3 tablespoons of parmesan
2 tablespoons of lemon peel
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
150g of smoked salmon

Recently on the Spanish market I found something nice. As well as fresh fruit and vegetables you may buy roasted products. In fact, each seller had trays with roasted pumpkins, sweet potatoes, apples and pears. In my opinion it is a brilliant simplification of home cooking. Now we get ready products in our home and the first phase of cooking is complete.

Today I would like to share with you a recipe which can be made with ready roasted vegetables or veg roasted in your own oven. This dish is an excellent snack or whole dish, depending on the size of the meal on your plate. The stuffed sweet potatoes are yummy just after roasting and, though they are potatoes, they are tasty cold too.

Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 twigs of rosemary
200g of chickpeas
150g of goat cheese
half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
chili pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Pesto is a green sauce made with basil, nettle, parsley, kale or rocket. We like pesto with basil the most (pesto alla genovese) or with dried tomatoes (pesto alla siciliana). Whatever the ingredients, the best pesto is homemade pesto made with fresh, good quality ingredients. If until now you have used ready pesto from a jar, I encourage to prepare your own pesto at home. It definitely has a better taste, you can add your own spices, and you always know what you have put into it.

Pasta with pesto is an excellent idea for dinner on a hot day when we don't want to spend a long time in the kitchen. One of the ingredients of pasta is pine nuts. We can buy them in Poland, but the price makes the blood run swiftly. You can replace them with sunflower seeds, cashew nuts or walnuts. However, if you get the chance to use pine nuts, you should try them and decide which pesto is best for you.

Ingredients:
1 pot of basil
50ml of olive oil
a fistful of pine nuts
50g of parmesan
1 clove of garlic
salt