Vegan dishes are plant based and do not contain any meat, dairy or eggs, and are becoming increasingly popular. It is wrong to think that such dishes are difficult to prepare and that special ingredients are needed, such as coconut oil, agave syrup, tofu, wheat gluten, chia seeds, etc.
At Kunstelj Inn, where we swear by home-produced and local ingredients, our range of traditional Slovenian dishes also includes plenty that will bring a wide smile to the faces of lovers of vegan food.
Garden salad with apples and walnuts
The freshness of salad together with the slight sourness of Gorenjska apples and the honeyed taste of walnuts create an excellent dish which is both refreshing and filling. Grega from the local shop 18sedem3 delivers us fresh salad, whilst apples come from the Pr Jernejc fruit grower in Hraše, who also provides us with homemade apple juice. The juice has a great flavour because it is produced at the farm using a wood-burning pasteuriser.
Mushroom soup
Homemade mushroom soup is a classic Slovenian dish. It often contains cream derived from animal sources and is therefore not suitable for vegans. At Kunstelj Inn we prepare it using potatoes, sauteed onions, just a hint of garlic and, of course, mushrooms. The soup itself is therefore gluten-free and suitable for vegans; we usually only add cream just before it is served.
Barley soup
Did you know that during hulling barley becomes Scotch barley, and small Scotch barley is then used to make ješprenjček – barley soup. Barley is a popular ingredient in various dishes in the Gorenjska region. Cooked barley works well in creamy soups with added fresh herbs from our garden and a dash of belica or leccino extra virgin olive oil which is produced by Santomas Koper. In winter we also use barley to make ričet – a thick barley stew – which can also be prepared without meat.
Sauteed chanterelles with courgettes
At Kunstelj Inn we know where the most succulent chanterelles grow! We rinse and slice the fragrant chanterelle mushrooms and courgettes, then saute onions in oil, add the chanterelles and courgettes and flash fry them. This results in a simple, quickly prepared dish which, in general, is one of our most popular. The secret is in our special hot plate which enables us to use a small amount of oil at a high temperature to flash fry the dish to ensure the delicate chanterelles are not overcooked. This is especially important when cooking with foods that contain a lot of water, such as mushrooms and courgettes.
Cooked buckwheat with seasonal vegetables
Cooked buckwheat, known as ajdova kaša, is a speciality of Slovenian national cuisine. For years numerous dishes have been prepared using buckwheat, such as močnik (a kind of savoury porridge), žganci (a kind of spoonbread), bread, cakes, flat cakes, štruklji (rolled filled dough), krapi (a kind of ravioli), kasha, etc. At Kunstelj Inn we use hulled Slovenian buckwheat from the Rangus mill, whilst the local shop 18sedem3 provides us with fresh vegetables from local farms.
The tradition of Slovene cuisine provides us with a good foundation which encourages our creativity and calls for new and different foods. At Kunstelj Inn we therefore maintain Slovenia’s culinary heritage, whilst at the same time we enthusiastically introduce new dishes that satisfy our guests’ various tastes.
Therefore we invite all lovers of vegan food to come and try our vegan dishes. The new icing on the cake of our vegan dishes is coffee with oat milk.
