It's just not Christmas without .....(French salad)

 

Please don’t ask me whether this recipe is actually French. All I know is that my father has been making it every Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday for as long as I can remember. And he calls it French Salad (in Hungarian).

My father usually starts cooking the vegetables the evening before. Then the next morning he makes the dressing and chops the apples and gherkins and mixes it all ready to be eaten with fish on Christmas Eve.

For me, Christmas just isn’t the same without this salad. So recently I have decided I needed to learn to make it. Which I did….

Luckily, my in-laws enjoyed it so much, they asked for the recipe. This one’s for you, OB & BL.

Ingredients

Salad

4 carrots

200g peas

500g baby potatoes

2-3 gherkins

1 green apple

Dressing

¾ cup thick Greek yoghurt

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tsp mustard

Juice of ½ a lemon

40ml of the brine from the gherkins

Place the potatoes into a pot and pour in water to about 1/3 the level of the potatoes. Place the lid on and switch on the stove to medium heat. Bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down low and simmer for 15-20min or until cooked (keep watch over the potatoes, add more water if the pot starts to dry out).

To test whether the potatoes are cooked, pierce with a knife. It should go in easily with minimal resistance.

Once cooked, take the pot off the heat. If you are in a rush, put the potatoes in a bowl of cold water, otherwise leave to cool in the pot.

Chop carrots into ½cm pieces and place into a small pot with the peas. Add about ½ cup of water and cook on medium heat for 5-10min until cooked. Drain and set aside to cool.

Chop the apples and gherkins into ½cm pieces and place into a large salad bowl. Once cool, peel and chop the potatoes into ½cm cubes. Place in a large bowl. Add the peas and carrots once cool.

Make the dressing by adding all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and stir gently.

Cover and place in the fridge. Try to let it stand for 4-5 hours before eating (ideally make it the night before).

You can serve this with fish, chops or steak or take it to your next BBQ / braai.