Beet and Gherkin Salad

This beautiful salad comes to us from my new favourite cookbook, Mamushka: A Cookbook by Olia Hercules. The book is a beautiful and delicious-looking collection of recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The author has a great love for vegetables, so there are many recipes where you can get your fill of them, along with lots of meaty recipes.

This salad is very popular in Russia, although typically made with boiled vegetables rather than roasted. I love roasted vegetables, so a salad made with them was a must-try for me. It is simple, with just some salt, pepper and unrefined sunflower oil for added flavour. I was able to find a bottle of unrefined sunflower oil at Whole Foods; it has a nice nutty flavour. If you can’t find it, or don’t like it, you can substitute with canola oil.

The only change I will made to this recipe is the amount of red onion. Because I found the onion had too strong a bite, I will only add a few tablespoons when I make this again. If you find a milder and sweeter tasting red onion, feel free to add half of it.

What you need:

• 2 tablespoons refined sunflower oil
• 1 lb beets, peeled and diced into 6mm cubes (I used mostly golden beets, and a few red ones)
• 315 grams Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 6mm cubes
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 1-2 tablespoons red onion
• 1 large dill pickle (gherkin) diced
• 2 tablespoons unrefined sunflower oil

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Combine the beets and potatoes with the refined sunflower oil, salt and pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast until they start to caramelize, about 40 minutes.
3. Allow the beets and potatoes to cool.
4. Blanch the peas in salted boiling water for about a minute, then drain them.
5. Combine all the ingredients, and then taste to adjust seasonings.
6. Serve at room temperature.