ORIGINAL RUSSIAN SALAD

I'm not the one to stop you from innovating and fusing traditional dishes with a modern touch, by all means experiment away if that's your thing but I enjoy simple pleasures in life and I won't tinker with something that is already great as is. Russian salad or Boeuf salad, as the French call it, is very simple and basic. It usually consists of blanched root vegetables, shredded cooked beef and mayonnaise. Some variations include chopped pickles and/or apples for extra crunch but that's it. I'm not sure how the whole pineapple, walnuts and pasta addition started but it seems far fetched to call it Russian when it's likely the Russians wouldn't recognise it but to each their own and I respect that.

In this basic recipe, I use my homemade mayonnaise , cubed and blanched carrots, peas and potatoes in roughly equal proportion, and instead of beef i use the chicken I retrieve from the chicken carcasses I boil for stock.If I have any pickles at hand I also add some, they give a fresh and crunchy texture to the salad. And, as always, it's as simple as that..enjoy!