Russian Cooked Vegetable Salad

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This Russian cooked vegetable salad is perfect for fall and winter. The vegetables are cooked in advance and seasoned with a simple vinaigrette.

Salads are recognized as an important part of the meal. In many countries, salad is served with the main dish, while in United States, is a meal in itself.

In Eastern Europe, the sophistication and finesse of western salad are still in the early ages, therefore the salads remain simple and down to earth.

For many years, because of the enormous premium paid on fresh vegetables, many people preferred to eat them without any dressing at all, or just lightly sprinkled with oil and vinegar, or lemon juice.

Most of my salads on the blog are like that. I grew up this way and I have a hard time buying dressing in the store. I also could not find something to fall in love with.

If I think about, this is also the new recommendation for eating, less dressing and more olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice when it comes to salads, right?

However, just when you thought you ran out of all the conceivable vegetable salad recipes, here is a treat from Russia for your next potluck.

This Russian cooked vegetable salad is a lovely recipe, perfect for fall and winter seasons.  There is a reason why this salad is considered to be good in winter.

For many years, in Eastern Europe root vegetables were the only vegetables available during the cold season, so people were used to make versatile recipes out of potatoes, carrots, beets and pickles .

This recipe is no exception.

It makes a good recipe for vegetarians or vegans, but it is also a great side for a meal that includes meat.

I think this would be really good with fried sausages, or a steak, or a grilled pork chop.

How to make this Russian Cooked Vegetable Salad

The root vegetables are cooked in advance, so leftover or canned vegetables are a great option to use. Basically, we will work with beets, potatoes, carrots, pickles, onion and dill.

We will cook, chop and add them to a bowl, then make a simple vinaigrette that will dress these beautiful vegetables.

I like roasting the beets instead of cooking them in the water, but I also use once in a while canned beets in salted water. They are an awesome vegetable to consume during the winter months.

Beets roasted in the oven though retain their color, their flavor and nutritional benefit. It is very easy to roast beets.

Just preheat oven to 375F, wrap the beets in aluminum foil and bake for about 1 1/4 hours. When the beets are cool to handle, peel them and use them in your salad.

The next step is to cook the potatoes. I cooked them first in salted water for about 10 minutes, before I added the carrots. The carrots cooked for 10 minutes more.

If you have canned green peas, drain them first, then use them. Frozen peas lightly cooked in salted water are perfect for this recipe as well.

Another ingredient is the pickles. I usually make my own pickles but of course, if you prefer, you can buy them in jars.

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, beets, peas, onion, pickles and dill. 

How to make the vinaigrette for this salad:

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, vinegar, oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the dressing over the vegetables and mix gently to combine.

This is a simple vinaigrette and to tell you the truth, I like this type of dressing more than any dressing from the store, but I grew up with this stuff, so don’t mind me.

Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving, so the vegetables have some time to marinade and absorb some of the dressing.

Low in fat and full of nutritious vegetables, this salad is also portable, does not require refrigeration, so you can make it for a potluck or picnic.

The leftovers are great too. Some foods are better after few days and this salad falls into that category.

The vegetables absorb the tangy flavor of the vinaigrette and get friendlier with each other.

Dare to try it? Delicious!

Yield: 6 servings

Russian Cooked Vegetable Salad

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This Russian cooked vegetable salad is perfect for fall and winter. The vegetables are cooked in advance and seasoned with a simple vinaigrette.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Inactive Time 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large beet or 1 can beets(16 oz) drained and cut into ½ inch dice
• 3 medium-size boiling potatoes peeled
• 2 medium-size carrots peeled
• ¾ cup onion chopped
• 3 medium-size dill pickles diced
• 1 can(8½ oz) can peas drained (frozen peas and cooked are accepted too)
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For Dressing:

• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ⅓ cup sunflower oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. If using a fresh beet, preheat oven to 375F.
2. Wrap the beet in aluminum foil and bake until tender, about 1¼ hours. When the beet is cool enough to handle, peel it, and cut it into ½-inch dice.
3. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook until the vegetables are tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes more.
4. Let cool, then cut the vegetables into ½-inch dice.
5. In a large salad bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, pickles, peas, beet and dill.
6. Toss gently, taking care not to crush the vegetables.
7. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, vinegar, oil and season with salt and pepper.
8. Toss the salad with the dressing. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.
9. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving, so the vegetables have some time to marinade and absorb some of the dressing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 247Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g

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