by Marina Stein

Created on: March 11, 2009

There are at least a hundred different recipes for Russian Potato Salad since it has been and still is so popular in Russia and every cook will add some personal twist to the creation. It is interesting that originally this salad was introduced to the czars by a French chef Olivier and in Russia that salad is still called an Olivier Salad.

In Russia this salad is a must at every celebration be it a birthday party, New Year Eve or Easter-Russian people just can't imagine a holiday without having that kind of a salad. This salad will make an excellent choice for lunch especially when served with pumpernickel or sourdough bread. You will get your carbohydrates, proteins and fiber in one tasty form. Russian Potato Salad is always the most popular item at all of the parties I catered to in America as well as in the bakery where I worked..

Ingredients

3 potatoes;

1 carrot;

2 eggs;

1 pickle;

1 can of peas;

1 small onion;

1 small apple (sweet) - optional;

2 cups of diced boiled (broiled) chicken or cooked ham - optional;

1/2 cup of grated cheese (medium cheddar) - optional;

Approximately 4-5 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Boil potatoes and carrot until done. Cut in little pieces (every piece of vegetable and meat in the salad should be the size of a pea). Hard boil the eggs and dice them. Chop pickle, onion and apple. Put all ingredients in a bowl, add mayonnaise and mix. Adjust mayonnaise and salt (if needed) by taste.

You can add/subtract ingredients as you wish, for example you can add chopped herbs such as dill and parsley to your salad for a vitamin boost. Or you can skip the optional ingredients if you try to stay away from meats. You can serve it on a lettuce leave instead of bread if you are trying to watch your calories intake. You can even serve it in tomato halves.

Enjoy your salad!

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