Ask anyone from the former Soviet republics what their favorite meal was as a child, and you might be surprised to find out that it wasn’t dessert, but a salad. Yes, you saw correctly, a salad. This salad is called Olivie and it was a staple dish at any table during a festive gathering. It is still a favorite of my and for my husband it’s not a holiday dinner, if Olivie is not on the table.

Intrigued? Well, you’ll be happy to know that it’s actually not that hard to make. There are many different variations of this salad out there, and everyone’s got their version. There is even a version of it in Spain (Ensalada Rusa), which includes tuna. But I stick to the version my Mom has always made, and I love it (and so far only heard positive feedback).

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

6 large potatoes (russet)
10 eggs
1 carrot
1/2 white or red onion
1 fresh cucumber
1 small pack of bologna
3 to 4 scallions
3 to 4 medium sized pickles
1 can of sweet peas
mayonnaise (1 and 1/2 large tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
A sprinkle of dried dill weed (or chopped fresh dill)

Boil the eggs, potatoes and carrot. Eggs should be hard boiled and potatoes and the carrot should be fully cooked through and soft (but not overcooked). As far as utensils, you’ll need a sharp knife, a cutting board, a large mixing bowl, and a peeler (if that’s how you prefer to peel your vegetables).

Once the eggs, potatoes and carrot are cooked. Peel the eggs, the potatoes and the carrot, chop all the aforementioned and place in the prepared bowl. Continue to peel and chop the onions, scallions, and cucumber and placing them in the same bowl. Chop the pickles and the bologna and add to the bowl. Finally, drain the can of peas and empty it out into the bowl.

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl, add salt and pepper to taste and mix. Add dried dill weed (if desired) and mix the ingredients again. Finally, add the mayonnaise, and mix all the ingredients until the mayonnaise is evenly distributed and all the ingredients are well combined.

So what does all this mixing get you? Take a look for yourself.

I haven’t heard of anyone walking away disappointed. A word of warning, the proportions I used will result in a very big salad, but feel free to pare it down. Just decrease the number of ingredients proportionally.

P.S. I received some commentary on this blog post with additional variations to this salad, so I wanted to add these variations here. Instead of mayonnaise some people use sour cream and for the meat component, instead of bologna some use chicken. Sometimes the carrot and onions are omitted.

Feel free to experiment with all these ingredients and see what tickles your taste buds.

Russian Salad Olivier (Russian Winter Salad)