Tag: Olivier salad

Some Striking Salads for the (not so)Bleak Midwinter

29 December 2023

As 2023 draws to a close, let’s take a look at some striking winter salads to liven up the end-of-year table. To complement our perennial favourite, our Olivier (with an Edge) salad, we’re looking to a coleslaw variation to add some colour to the New Year’s Eve spread. With the new year just around the corner, KCC wishes all its readers a prosperous and peaceful 2024, full with culinary adventures and many more mouth-watering meals!

KCC’s take on Olivier salad uses olives instead of meat

This winter has been a strange one here in Kazakhstan. We should be in the depths of winter now, but the snow didn’t arrive until the first week of December. Then there was a week or so of freezing weather with the temperature dipping to -28c, but now, as we approach the end of December, there’s very little snow on the ground in Almaty – it’s even been raining, which is really unusual at this time of the year.

KCC’s coleslaw variation with pear and rocket

The purple hues of red cabbage pair so well with the orange of carrots and the green of rocket. For a bit of bite, we’ve added some grated radish (we used green radishes, but you can use red radishes or mouli if you can’t find green ones), along with some grated pear and pomegranate seeds for a sweet and tart note. Add in some pumpkin and sunflower seeds and raisins before dressing with tahini and pomegranate sauce.

Ingredients (serves  3-4)

  • 100 g shredded red cabbage
  • 100 g grated carrot 
  • 50 g chopped rocket
  • 50 g grated green radish
  • 50 g grated pear
  • 25 g pomegranate seeds
  • 25 g raisins
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons sunflower seeds 
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate sauce
  • a slice of fresh lime

Method

  • In a large bowl mix the red cabbage, carrot, rocket, green radish, pear and pomegranate seeds together. Add the raisins, oregano, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Make a dressing with equal parts pf tahini and pomegranate sauce and thin with a bit of hot water to obtain a smooth consistency. Pour over the salad, stir well, give it a squeeze of lime and serve.

Olivier with an Edge

12 January 2017

Welcome to the first Knidos Cookery Club of the new year. While many of us have returned to the daily grind, it’s still party-time in some parts of the world.

in Russia, people are preparing to celebrate New Year’s Eve on 13 January – the Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, which Russia adopted after 1917’s October Revolution. This switch created a 13-day lag between the calendars so, for followers of the Orthodox faith, Christmas Eve falls on 6 January and 13 January marks the end of the old year.

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KCC’s take on Russia’s classic Olivier salad

A centre-piece of Russian tables on this day, as people prepare to welcome in novy god, is the Olivier salad – a concoction of boiled potatoes, pickled cucumbers, peas, eggs, carrots and boiled beef or chicken in a mayonnaise dressing. This version dates from Soviet times as all the ingredients could usually be procured even in the depths of winter and despite chronic shortages.

Arrange
Mix
Serve!

A version of the salad, omitting the meat and eggs, is made in Turkey where it’s known as Rus Salatası – we’ve made our own veggie version that replaces the meat (Olivier purists look aside now, please) with black and green olives and uses sour cream in place of mayonnaise.

When I lived in Moscow in the 1990s I got it into my head that Olivier salad should include olives (mistakenly thinking that Olivier referred to olives rather than the salad’s originator!) and I was disappointed when it came minus olives – so now I finally have a chance to put this right!

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

  • 150 g potatoes
  • 150 g carrots
  • 150 g peas
  • 150 g pickled cucumbers
  • 150 g black and green olives
  • two hard boiled eggs
  • 150 ml sour cream or natural yogurt
  • pinches of salt and black pepper

Method

  • Boil the whole carrots and potatoes until cooked but not going mushy and boil the eggs for 5 minutes or so. While they’re all cooking, chop the pickled cucumbers and olives into small cubes.
  • Drain the potatoes and carrots and cover with cold water to stop them cooking. Do the same with the eggs. Chop the potatoes, carrots and eggs into small cubes and arrange around the side of a large serving dish in separate sections with the olives, peas and cucumbers.
  • Pour the sour cream or yogurt into the middle of the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Now mix all the ingredients thoroughly, making sure they all get a good coating of sour cream or yogurt.
  • Leave in the fridge before serving alongside other Russian-themed salads, such as this veggie take on caviar made from beluga lentils, and wish a hearty S Novym Godom with shots of vodka and/or a glass of chilled Sovyetskoye Shampankskoye (if you can get hold of it in your local offie!) as you prepare to welcome Old New Year in true Russian-style!