Not to be confused with a dressing. Vineigrette is a name of Russian salad based on boiled or baked vegetables.

The ingredients are all simple and very available with the exception of Russian style sauerkraut (you find in any Russian store), but it can be replaced with the regular or totally skip, just put more pickles. The unique taste is again a combination of sweet (beets, potato, carrots, peas) and salty or marinated pickles. The proportions are super flexible too – put more beets if you like it sweeter, add pickles if you want more crunch and brine.

Can be served as a side dish, appetizer, packed for picnic or lunch. Kept in a fridge for 2-3 days and gets even better. And it’s good for you!

Ingredients:

• Boiled, better baked beets – 2-3 medium
• Boiled Yukon gold or red potatoes – 3 medium
• Boiled carrots – 3medium
• Shallot – 1 small
• Pickles – 3-4
• Sweet peas – 1 can or 1 cup of frozen blanched
• Sauerkraut (better be Russian) – 1 cup

Directions:

• Finely chop (to a pea size) potatoes, beets, carrots, pickles and shallot. The best beets are baked, all the juices remain inside and pealing is easy. Just wrap each one in a foil and put in your oven when you use it. You can keep them baked in a fridge for several days before you use them. Pea size chopping may sound intimidating, but it’s super easy, everything is cooked and soft.
• Blanch frozen sweet peas in a boiling water for about a minute so it keeps the bright color or add canned peas.
• Slightly chop sauerkraut (if you have it).
• Add salt and pepper, dress with olive oil.

Serve cold or room temperature.

Another super easy, refreshing and unusual salad. With minimum ingredients and effort you can have a nice side dish or healthy lunch. It will look great on your dinner table or party buffet.

Ingredients:

• Boiled or baked beets – 2 medium or 3 small
• Granny Smith apple, pealed – less than a whole one, about 3/4
• Shallot or small red onion – 1
• Roasted pine nuts – 2 tbsp

Dressing:

• freshly squeezed lemon juice – 1/2 of a lemon
• olive oil2 tbsp
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Finely slice cooked beets, apple and onion
• Add roasted pine nuts
• Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine

Try this bright and crunchy salad. 5 minutes preparation time – and you have very refreshing side dish for your chicken or fish, or lunch with a piece of bread.

Ingredients:

• Radishes 5-6
• cucumbers – 2-3
• green onions 2-3
• dill
• parsley
• sour cream

Directions:

• Finely chop radishes, place them into a bowl, add some salt and stir. This will allow some juice to come out of radishes
• Chop the rest of the ingredients
• Mix all together
• Add a little more salt, pepper, dress with sour cream

This is one of the most simple beet salads. Of course the beets have to be cooked first.

You can boil it, but the best way is baking. Just wash it, wrap in a foil like you do with potato and put it in your oven (I usually place a couple there when I bake or cook something else). You can check the readiness by poking through the foil with a toothpick, should feel soft. When it’s baked all the juices remain inside the root and the sweetness is concentrated. If you don’t use them right away you can keep them in a fridge for several days. And the peeling is very easy.

Ingredients:

• Peeled baked beets – 2 medium
• Roasted walnuts – 2-3 tbsp
• Garlic – 2-3cloves

Directions:

• Peel the beets and grind using hand grinder (very easy),
• Chop walnuts or even break them with your hands
• Finely chop or grind garlic
• Season with salt and pepper
• Dress with several drops of olive oil and or 1 tsp of mayonnaise

Decorate or garnish with some pickles or capers

Ingredients:

• roasted chicken – 2 medium chicken breasts, (can be either white or dark meat)
• celery – 2 stalks

The dressing can be just plain mayonnaise, but it is somewhat heavy for me, so I take olive oil, add French mustard, mix it together to emulsify and add a little bit of mayonnaise just for the color.

Dressing:

• olive oil – 1/4 cup
• French mustard – 1tbsp
• mayonnaise – 1 tsp

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

The celery adds crunch and tastes like pickle in this salad. And as always with chicken salads – you can serve it on a plate, make a sandwich with it, put it in a container and take to work etc. The easiest possible way to utilize your roasted chicken leftovers!

Cannot be any easier – thinly sliced cucumbers, thinly sliced garlic, finely chopped dill.

Add salt, pepper. Dress with fresh lemon juice. That’s all. Great refreshing side for any fish, chicken or meat dish.