Delicious & Very Very Easy Appetizer: Russian Salad

Or Salad Olivier, invented in 1860 by Lucien Olivier, the chef of a celebrated restaurant in Moscow, named Hermitage. In my country, they call it also American Salad, probably because after the fall of USSR anything related to Russia was linked with socialism and people were somewhat afraid to look like one:) Anyway it is a delicious complementary dish, very much liked by nearly everyone and very easy to prepare.

My recipe is not like Olivier's though. The original dish contains meat yet we do not use meat in Russian Salad in Turkey. Moreover, my recipe is made easier if you benefit from frozen vegetables and chopped gherkins sold in markets.

The frozen vegetables I use is a mixture of peas, carrots and potatoes, the latter two already chopped into little pieces. I hope you have these conveniences in where you live and making Russian Salad is easier than easy to you too.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of frozen mixture of peas, carrots and potatoes. If you do not have this, you need 50 gr. of peas, 1 carrot and 1 potato.
• One extra potato. 
• 4 tablespoons of chopped gherkins.
• 8 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• Salt, ground black pepper

Preparation:

• Chop all the vegetables you have into very small cubic pieces. If you have this practical kitchen gadget, your work is easier:)

• Boil them until carrots and potatoes soften and peas bright green color turns into a yellowish green.
• In another pot, boil the extra potato. If you cut it in two halves, it softens more quickly.
• In a large bowl, put the vegetable mixture and gherkins.
• Peel off the skin of boiled potato, put it in another bowl and make it a mash. Put the potato mash over the vegetable mixture. This is to thicken the mayonnaise. Otherwise the salad becomes a bit watery.
• Add the mayonnaise. 
• Add one teaspoon of salt and spice the mixture with some ground black pepper. 
• Stir the mixture.

Enjoy!