INGREDIENTS:

= 3 medium beets

= 2-3 medium potatoes

= 3 medium carrots

= ½ medium onion

= 5 pickles

= 100 г herring fillet or anchovies

= ¼ cup olive oil

= 1 tea spoon white wine vinegar  

= ½ table spoon salt

= ½ tea spoon ground black pepper

= 1 table spoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

= Olive oil – for dressing  

COOKING:

1. Prepare the salad seasoning first: in a bowl whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Whisking constantly, add olive oil in a thin stream. Whisk until the seasoning is well-blended.

Alternatively, you can use just olive oil for dressing.

2. You can boil the beetroots in water: place the unpeeled beets in a large sauce pan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and boil for 1 hour or until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Take the cooked beets out of the water, let cool, then peel and dice.

I prefer to bake the beets to preserve their taste and color. Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Wrap every beet separately in foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour in the middle of the oven. The baked beets should be soft when pierced with a thin wooden stick.

Take the baked beets out of the oven, unwrap the foil and let cool, then peel and dice.

Tip: Place the diced beets in a bowl and mix with a few tablespoons of seasoning or just with olive oil to preserve its color and make sure other vegetables would not be colored by the beets when mixed together but instead will keep their own colors.

3. Boil unpeeled potatoes and carrots – make sure they don’t overcook (boil them for about 15 minutes). Cool the cooked potatoes and carrots, then peel and dice.

4. Dice the onion.

5. Thinly dice the pickles.

6. In a large bowl toss together diced beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, and pickles. Season the salad with prepared vinegar seasoning OR just with olive oil.

If desired, add finely chopped herring to the salad.

Or – put the salad in a serving bowl and arrange the herring on the top – optional.