Vinegrette Salad

Blog's Category: USSR-Era Cuisine, My Staple Food


                                   Vinegrette Salad

Intro

Vinegrette is way too familiar dish for those from USSR. Being made from a very affordable and accessible products this salad was truly everyday folk dish. Salad name Vinegrette does not come from a dressing as you may think, word vinegrette in russian means mix of everything, it is rather has meaning of "melange" or "medley" or something made of many colorful chopped up ingredients. 

What it is
It's a cooked and chopped up root vegetables with addition of legumes, usually green peas or beans, and some pickled ingredient such as pickles or sauerkraut. 

How it's served
Vinegrette salad is basically one-meal dish. It is versatile, a great food to be served at friends or family gathering or just enjoyed in your own everyday menu. I like to have it as my supper, with some crunchy stuff on a side like tortilla chips or crackers.

Taste Description
It tastes rather soft and mild with crunchy-sour notes (pickles). It is full of subtle and delicate flavors root vegetables have. To give a salad some more zing, add black pepper, salt or more acidity (vinegar or lemon juice).

Some side comments
This dish seems to be one of a kind dish, I could not think of any similar one from another cuisines. Let me know, please, if your native cuisine has something close to it. Being very unusual to all-american cuisine, I'm glad that my kids which were grown up here, in US, have developed taste for Vinegrette - it is healthy meal and one of the gems of Eastern European cuisine in my opinion.

How to store it
It won't lose its taste and will stay same good (if not better!) kept in a fridge for a 3-4 days.

Variations
There can be many variation for Vinegrette family recipes. Although there are some "the must" ingredients such as potato, beets, carrots, some pickled ingredient and some legumes. Among known variations for pickled veggies and legumes:
- cooked beans can be use in place of green peas (any kind of beans)
- chopped up sauerkraut in place of pickles
Often raw onion or fresh herbs such as parsley or cilantro can be added.

Tips
- If you do not have sweet onion on hands, use regular one but cut amount in a half.
- I like to cook root vegetables in advance - day before. Drain them and keep unpeeled in a fridge until the next day.

Vinegrette

For about 7 servings:

4 medium potatoes
4 medium carrots
2 orange-size beets
5-6 pickles (about 6" long)
1/2 sweet (Vidalia) onion
1 can of green peas
salt
2 tbs flavorless olive oil
2 tbs vinegar (optional, in case your pickles are not sour enough)
1/2 tbs sugar (optional, in case beets are not sweet enough)

- First, cook your root vegetables: cook whole unpeeled beets in a simmering water for 2 hours (or longer) until they are very soft and completely cooked. In a separate pot, cook whole unpeeled potato until fully cooked (about 40 minutes). Peel carrots and cook them in a boiling water until soft for about 20-30 minutes.

- Meanwhile, dice your onion and pickles.

- Let your cooked root vegetables to cool down, peel potatoes and beets and dice them same size as onion and pickles.

- Let your root vegetable to cool down completely. In a large mixing bowl, mix them with onion, pickles and green peas. Do not forget to add salt and olive oil.

- Taste it. If you think it is too mild for you - add vinegar and sugar. Add some black pepper (it's optional).

- Enjoy right away or let it stay in a fridge for an hour for flavor to develop even more! Longer it's in a fridge - brighter colors will be. Beets will color everything (even pickles and peas!) with its powerful fuchsia hue.