Slovenian Buckwheat Polenta (Žganci) for Power, Money, and Health | Sara's Kitchen Witchcraft

My mom is shocked I actually made this. But I love buckwheat, so of course I would!

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Now, there are a few things that, when I think of them, I think, "Yep, that's white people food." One of them would be my Slovenian plum dumplings, which are so delicious. Another is a food that even my off-the-boat mom from Slovenia wasn't too keen on, and that is žganci.

In essence, žganci is like a buckwheat polenta. It's traditionally served with cracklings (which are those orange things you see on top of it in the photo there); they're essentially really fatty bacon bits. My mom isn't a fan of buckwheat in any sense, which means even recipes like my mushroom soup are off the table, but for those of us who like that roasty, earthy note that buckwheat brings, this is basically heaven. And it's so simple!

Because there's only four ingredients to make the basic recipe here, they're all getting used for magic today: buckwheat, bacon, salt, and onion. Depending on when you're eating it, you can add any protein you want. Over-easy eggs for breakfast, sausage for lunch or dinner, it all works, and it's so easy that so long as you have any kind of ground up meal in the house, you'll be able to make something tasty and filling in no time, no matter your budget!

Magic in Slovenian Buckwheat Porridge | Žganci

I'll tell you: it was this kind of stuff that my great grandparents in Slovenia were eating before a hard day's work on the farm. This meal, hearty and warm and grounding, is one that helps people get their bearings; it's comforting, yet it gives you plenty of energy, and the saltiness and earthiness of it are such a cozy, homey flavor. Food like that, as you might imagine, makes great magic: buckwheat is a grain that invokes prosperous energy, and the pig that makes the bacon is a long standing symbol of abundance and power. Salt purifies and protects, as does the onion, and they also help attract wealth as much as they repel evil.

Naturally, this classic “poor man’s food” can be used for abundance spells when you have absolutely nothing left: it’s got everything that would make a wallet sing. With a majority of planetary correspondences here being that of earth, as well as a touch of onion’s fire to help us get ourselves in gear, this is the meal that’ll keep you full, keep you working, and keep you doing what needs to be done to fill your purse. It also purifies you, protects you from ill wishes, and helps you stay honest and true to yourself, with planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and the Moon spearheading this energetic blend. Perfect for turning dreams into reality!

Slovenian Buckwheat Porridge | Žganci

Prep time: 5min

Cook time: 20min

Makes 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

• 250g buckwheat groats for grinding (or 250g buckwheat flour)

• If no buckwheat: use cornmeal

• 1 - 1 ½ cups water

• ½ Tbsp salt

• 4 slices of bacon, diced

• 1 onion, diced

Directions:

1.  Cut your bacon into small pieces and fry in a pan until crispy. Set aside.

2.  Dice an onion and fry in half of the remaining fat. Save the rest of the fat for eggs or other breakfasts. If not using bacon, fry onions in olive oil.

3.  Put water in a pot, salt well, and bring to a boil.

4.  If using whole groats,, grind them into a fine powder with a food processor or a spice grinder, then put in a pot and toast on low heat for five minutes. (Make sure it doesn’t turn brown or burn.)

5.  Ladle boiling water into the buckwheat bit by bit until it becomes a consistency you can shape in a spoon (sticks to spoon, forms a moist clump, doesn’t fall or slide apart easily).

6.  Let cook on low, stirring often, until the onions and anything else you’re eating this with are done or until it’s the right thickness for you.

7.  Serve warm, with onions, eggs or meat or other protein, and bacon bits sprinkled over top.

Tips:

• If you’re making this for breakfast, it goes really well with over easy eggs with runny yolks. If you’re eating it for lunch or dinner, something hearty like sausage or your favorite hearty dinner protein would go well too.

• This is best served warm, with fresh bacon bits and onions. If you can’t have bacon, anything salty/savory and crunchy will do, like fake bacon bits or potentially even crumbled up crackers or croutons.

• If you don’t have or like buckwheat, you can also do this with cornmeal instead, and it’ll make a nice corn polenta rather than a more earthy buckwheat one.

There's something here that I think anyone will appreciate, whether you're using a new meal like buckwheat or one you already know you love, like corn. Just water, salt, and meal can make it work, and then those little extras like bacon and onion add a lovely texture and saltiness that rounds it out perfectly. Try it out! ♥

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Sara Raztresen is a Slovene-American writer, screenwriter, and Christian witch. Her fantasy works draw heavily on the wisdom she gathers from her own personal and spiritual experience, and her spiritual practice borrows much of the whimsy and wonder that modern society has relegated to fairy-and-folktale. Her goal is to help people regain their spiritual footing and discover God through a new (yet old) lens of mysticism.

Follow Sara on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, and explore her fiction writing here.