(a.k.a. vinegret, venigret)

After Saturday’s heavy meal, I really wanted something light today. So I made my favorite Russian salad - Venegret. First, a warning. If you don’t like beets, stop reading. Now.

I grew up eating venegret. When my mom made it, it was in large batches and so I ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t now, of course, but I could. I make this salad seldom because Andy hates beets. I make the salad with no recipe, but from memory. Venegret is very versatile. In my opinion, you can make it with whatever vegetables you want. I like to stick with the tried and true version, one from the old country, one with which I grew up.

So here is everything I used to make my salad - Beets (of course), potatoes, onion, pickles, carrots, and green peas. You can easily omit any of the vegetables (although I think pickles are a perfect contrast to the sweet beets). As a dressing, the traditional Russian venegret would have mayonnaise. I sometimes use nothing or sometimes just add a bit of olive oil. Again, it’s all up to you and your taste buds. Also, traditionally, the salad is made with primarily canned peas. I don’t really like canned peas all that much, so I make it with frozen peas instead.

I have one problem with making venegret. I always make too much and then I end up eating it for two days straight. It’s not really problem unless you consider the (not really negative, but curious) effects beets may have on your system. In addition, I’m not the neatest cook in the kitchen, so I almost always end up with a bit of beet splatter or stain somewhere on my clothes. Nevertheless, it’s all worth it. The sweetness of the beets, the crunchiness of the onions, and the contrasting salty pickles are all worth it.

Venegret
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

3 beets
2 medium size potatoes (red, white, yellow, whichever you have on hand)
1 small onion
2-3 pickles chopped
1 cup of peas (I used frozen)
3 carrots
salt

Directions:

1. Boil Beets until tender. This will take over an hour (close to 1 1/2 hours for me), so start well in advance. Once the beets are done, drain immediately and soak in cold water. This will make peeling the beets 1000 times easier. You’ll be able to take the skin off with your fingers. You can also do this a day in advance to save time.

2. Peel the potatoes and carrots and boil until tender (I boil them together to save time). Be careful not to overcook the potatoes because then you’ll have mashed potatoes with beets (which isn’t such a bad idea either, now that I think about it)

3. Chop onion and pickles into small pieces. I do this while the potatoes and carrots are cooking.

4. Defrost the peas.

5. When the potatoes and carrots are done, chop them into small cubed pieces. Same for beets.

6. Combine everything in a bowl, add mayo, oil, or a dressing of your choice, and enjoy!