This traditional Polish salad is like a souped up version of the American potato salad. It is a side dish that is a great accompaniment to nearly any lunch or dinnertime meal at any time of the year. It fits just as well for picnics as for a fall luncheon, as for holiday meals like Christmas or Easter. If you like root vegetables, this is definitely the salad for you. Root vegetables are at the heart of this salad: boiled and diced potatoes (of course!), parsnip, celery root, and carrots. There is also crunch from apples and pickles, and an added dimension from diced hardboiled eggs. Canned or cooked peas add a punch of unexpected color and flavor to the dish. though when I made this batch, I didn’t have any peas in the house, so I left them out. Not a problem–still tasted great! While I have an insatiable sweet tooth, I have to admit that this salad is one of those dishes that I have to portion out for myself and stick to it, or I’ll end up eating the whole big bowl of it like a bag of chips.
As with most salads, particularly the leafy variety, this salad is time-consuming to put together. Additional time goes into boiling various root vegetables separately from the potatoes until they are tender and then leaving them alone for a while to cool.
Unlike American potato salad, the vegetables are to be diced into small cubes.
And don ‘t forget about adding a hard boiled egg or two.
The mayonnaise dressing is about the same for both types of salads, though my aunt in Poland has dressed the salad with oil instead of mayonnaise.
A bit of time and effort goes into this salad, but it is really, really tasty. The downside is that you will see your hours worth of work being eaten in a matter of seconds!
| Servings |
|
- 7 medium potatoes (not baking potatoes)
- 2 large carrots, peeled
- 2 medium to large parsnips, peeled
- 1/2 celery root (celeriac)
- 2 dill pickles, diced
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
- 1 cup frozen or canned green peas, drained (optional)
- 1 small onion diced finely (optional)
- 1 cup mayonnaise, or to taste
- juice of 1/2 to one lemon (to taste)
- 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
- 1 sprig Italian flat leafed parsley
Ingredients
|
|
- In a medium large pot, boil potatoes in their skins in salted water until fork tender. Drain potatoes. While the potatoes are cooking, in a separate medium pot, boil carrots, parsnips, and celery root in salted water until fork tender. Drain vegetables.
- When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and chop into squares that are about the size of a pea. Chop remaining vegetables the same size as the potatoes. Transfer chopped vegetables, pickles, chopped apple, peas (optional), and diced onion (optional) into a large mixing bowl and carefully mix vegetables.
- In a small bowl, fork blend mayonnaise with lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour over mixed vegetables. Add chopped egg and mix dressing and egg into the vegetable/apple mixture. Transfer to a serving bowl. Chop parsley and sprinkle over salad.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.
