Russian Salad

13aRussianSaladPlatterLOTraditionally, Salade Russe is a combination of cooked potatoes and assorted veggies tossed with mayonnaise; sometimes formed into a mold, and often served at New Year’s along side cold turkey and champagne. It is also known as Olivier Salad.

I chose to use a combination of Yukon Gold potatoes and lightly steamed asparagus with thin slices of red onion, Persian cucumber, and sun-dried tomatoes; didn’t bother with molding, and used Russian dressing.

03AsparagusBasketbfLOINGREDIENTS
•1 bunch asparagus
•5 or 6 Yukon Gold potatoes
•1 Persian cucumber, sliced thin
•1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
•Dry-pack sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
04AsparagusSaltedClothbfLO•Romaine lettuce
•Sea salt
Seasoned salt
•Pepper
•Dried Parsley
•Paprika
Russian dressing

Rinse the asparagus and peel, if you like – these were tiny stalks, so I didn’t bother. Trim off the bottom inch or so of each stalk and pop into boiling water for five or six minutes, until they are still bright green and tender-crisp.

07PotatoesWavebfLOTurn the asparagus into a bowl of ice water to stop it from cooking any further, then arrange on a clean kitchen towel, season lightly with sea salt, and stash in the fridge to chill.

Wash and cut the potatoes into roughly evenly-sized chunks, then cover with water in a ‘wave-safe bowl and let soak for about 15 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, return to the bowl, cover, pop into the ‘wave and hit the ‘potato’ button.

08PotatoesSeasoningbfLOWhen the cycle finishes, check the potatoes – this batch was perfectly done, but there are times I need to hit ‘potato’ again.

Lightly toss the potatoes with Seasoned salt, black pepper, dried parsley, and paprika, then pop them into the fridge to chill.

Note: this is one of my favorite methods for making a simple parsleyed potato side dish – just add a pat or two of butter along with the seasonings and serve.

12RussianSaladPlatterbfLOSo, to recap; asparagus lightly steamed, shocked, and well chilled. Potatoes perfectly ‘waved, seasoned, and nicely chilled. Now, we can make a fine Russian Salad!

Combine the cold potatoes and asparagus with the sliced onion and cucumber in a large bowl and toss with the Russian dressing.

Arrange on a platter with the romaine and sprinkle with the sliced sun-dried tomatoes – I also add a few additional asparagus tips on top.

Serve and enjoy my new favorite salad.

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