food comas

From living with my Belarussian roommate and thus sharing a kitchen with her, I have come to realize how much Russian/Belarussian people love their potatoes, mayonnaise, dill and pickles.  The oliyve (potato salad) dish combines all these national favorites.

Russian cuisine is intriguing to me because there is very little overlap of ingredients with the traditional Chinese cuisine that I grew up with.  Maybe someday we will try to make some Russian-Chinese fusion dishes!  Although I have no idea how that would work as the flavors are complete contrasts of each other… will continue to brainstorm!

Olivye (Russian Potato Salad)

Yields: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
• 4 carrots , peeled and diced into small cubes
• 1  24oz jar of kosher dill pickles, diced into small cubes
• 2  15oz cans of peas, drained
• 1  8oz pack of hot dogs or some sort of meat (baloney, sausage, etc)
• Mayonnaise to taste

Directions

If using hot dogs, microwave the hot dogs for 1 minute to soften them up.  Cut up the hot dogs into small cubes.

Mix all the diced vegetables in a very large pot or bowl.  Add the peas and meat and stir thoroughly.  Store the salad in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

When you are preparing to eat the salad, transfer a single serving of the salad to a small bowl.  Dress with 1 Tbsp of mayonnaise and enjoy!  The amount of mayonnaise  will vary based on your taste preferences.

Note: It is better to wait until you are ready to eat the salad to mix in the mayonnaise, as otherwise the salad will spoil faster sitting in the refrigerator.