You probably know that rumex is one of the most easy-to-find, healthy and tasty plants. It is famous and vastly used since ancient times. Rumex grows in nature and can be found close to water sources and elsewhere. It can also be cultivated in our home gardens. The most used species are perennial, so once planted, rumex does not need any additional care. It can grow edible leaves both during spring and autumn, which allows us to enjoy its taste more often. We can also collect and freeze leaves for the winter season. There are many recipes with rumex but we suggest one with rice and a layer of eggs and yogurt.

The dessert halva or semolina pudding has Orient origins but is also very popular in Bulgaria. Or at least it used to be. Today some households still keep the tradition of preparing it at home. While others have broken the chain in the tradition for various reasons, such as not enjoying its taste or due to the invasion of plenty of popular and modern desserts. That is why, if you don’t have bad feelings for the semolina pudding, we offer our variation of the recipe, which can easily bring it to the top of your list of homemade desserts.

Broccoli get their name from the Italian language in which broccolo means the flowering crest of a cabbage. Yes, indeed, we use the flowers of this plant as a vegetable. It is a great choice in Italy, but it is also valued around the world for its richness in vitamins, minerals, and fibers. Broccoli can be cooked or eaten raw and its leaves are also edible. We suggest an option for an easy to prepare broccoli cream soup.

Pumpkin! It sounds yummy, isn't it? Not only is it tasty, but also good for your health. That is why, it used in both it is desserts and salty dishes. The pumpkin is one of the golden autumn gifts. It could last for long and it can keep us in good health throughout the whole winter season. The fruit contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, while its seeds are rich in amino acids. The pumpkin is good for our diet and it has some fantastic uses. You can make a pumpkin carriage, a lantern, desserts, soups and so on.

Now we will share with you our way to turn the pumpkin into a tasty cream soup.

For many, desserts are irresistible part of the daily menu. For others, they mean an occasion and exclusivity. For yet another group of people, desserts have long been excluded from the menu.

The homemade cake, however, has a special place in everyone's heart. Often, its aroma and taste bring nostalgic childhood memories, a sense of sentiment for the past days and flavors which are hard to find nowadays. Hard but not impossible. When we select the products with care and attention, when we cook with love and positive attitude, the food gets filled with goodness. The more of its ingredients are homegrown, the better.

We share a recipe for caramelised apple cake which is dazzling, fluffy and very tasty, especially when the apples are homegrown.

Sour cabbage (or pickled cabbage) is a natural probiotic and favorite food of the Bulgarians for centuries. Red hot peppers (chilli peppers) contain vitamin C, Boletes (boletus edulis) are rich in vitamin B. What will happen if we combine these 3 products together? The answer is: a distinct, extremely tasty and healthy combination which touches all your senses.

Let us share with you another memorable recipe from Kiril Georgiev - our chef de cuisine.

Banitsa is a traditional Balkan pastry dish, prepared by our ancestors. It consists of rolled or layered phyllo dough sheets with different types of stuffing in-between. The most popular banitsa in Bulgaria is made with cheese, eggs and yogurt, but vegetables can be added as well.

In the following recipe we present you a seasonal dish with broccoli and cauliflower - some of the vegetables we grow in the gardens of Botanica Life Foundation.

Antioxidants and fibers in broccoli are helping control the level of blood sugar.The sulforaphane, which is contained in cauliflower, helps the detoxification of the body and aids digestion. A unique combination which is not only delicious but also extremely healthy.

Along with the popular "heroes" in carrots - carotene (provitamin A), vitamins B1, B2, PP, C and a number of minerals, they also contain sugars. For this reason, in the Middle Ages, when sweeteners were a rare and expensive product, carrot cake gained great popularity. Carrot cake is well known today with different variations in recipes. We offer you a very easy to prepare option, which will be appreciated by both passionate cooks and beginner enthusiasts.

The courgette is a vegetable with a variety of uses. It can be used for soups, dishes, salads and even desserts. But did you know that courgettes can be used to make incredible oven-baked ‘vegetable balls’ - a recipe particularly intriguing in autumn.

One of the interesting combinations, diversifying the recipes for baked beans in the summer is to add okra. Not only that, but also, let’s bake it in the oven! Of course, you get a delicious dish that would surprise even the most sceptical. Coupled with the fact that okra is a vegetable with a high content of magnesium and vitamins K and C, which are well preserved in this gentle method of okra preparation, the dish becomes not only delicious but also very nutritious.

Indeed, it is Summer – this period of the year during which we can enjoy an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs. A gesture of this excitement is our recipe for Summer moussaka which we share with you. It is light, diverse and colourful.