It should. Shredding helps, and simmering a long time will also help.
1 Like
Don’t wear white while prepping it!
2 Likes
If you have a pressure cooker or instant pot, I usually pressure cook (steamer setup inside) my beets.
Start with the low end of the time range, and then check - if they’re old/ tough, you may need to go longer.
1 Like
Now that is how a recipe should be written!
1 Like
Thank you, Prima! Sounds good and I plan to try making it!
1 Like
A New World version from Elephant and Castle in NYC = cooked beets, raw cucumber, stock, sour cream, dill -> blender. Serve cold with more sour cream and fresh dill. Gorgeous, delicious.
5 Likes
I agree. Emglow you can’t ask for suggestions for a “not date” and then not tell what happened! 
3 Likes
It was wonderful. Sous vide beets , gorgeous salad, and lentil soup. Thanks for all the suggestions. Will be doing this again.
9 Likes
Or what not-happened on the not-date. 
I’ll leave it to your imagination.
3 Likes
Olivier has been adopted by a dozen other cultures, usually called Russian Salad or Olivier.
Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Iranians, Cubans, Colombians, the French, most Spanish speaking countries- have something called Russian salad.
Persian Olivieh
Many of the ensalada rusas in Spanish speaking countries that I read online call for beets, potatoes and mayo.
The Finns, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes , Danes have potato and beet salads with a sour cream and/or mayo dressing.
Can’t remember which Russian Salad recipe called for capers- maybe a Greek version of Russian salad. Maybe random, but they work.
With capers below
FWIW, this suggests the original 19th C Olivier Salad included
Capers !
http://www.kolarsky.com/family/cookbook/olivier_salad.htm
This type of beet potato mayo salad is common in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
3 Likes
There is a world of eating outside the traditional dishes I grew up with!
1 Like
You can add Pakistan to that list.
2 Likes
My first exposure to Russian salad was in Greece, where it’s on a lot of menus as a starter, the standard potato mayo pea and carrot version.
I did try a beet and potato salad at a Finnish club 25 years ago, then found all the pink Ensalada Rusa recipes through Google.
I made a Rossoli with beet, potato and apple at Xmas, and a Smoked Salmon Shuba Salad on New Year’s Eve.
Lately, I’ve been adding capers to my quick weeknight potato salads, too (potato, mayo, sour cream, vinegar, dill, basil, parsley, capers and chopped dill pickle).
The various variations are included in the Wiki entry. Other non- traditional ingredients include pineapple and corn.
3 Likes
And, unsurprisingly, India.
The vegetables are completely different - the commonality is lots of mayo!
2 Likes
Worth noting for those who don’t like mayo or have issues with fat that you can sub a vinagrette almost all the time with good results. Not “authentic” of course. grin
Do you have some of the Ottolenghi books (Plenty, Plenty More etc) - you could pock 2-3 of the those dishes
1 Like
I love the super simple salad combination of cold rice, cubed beets and vinaigrette. The beets color the rice an gorgeous bright pink and the dressing brightens two rather bland foods, adding acidity to balance the sweetness of the beets. The texture is seductively unctuous, in a good way.
1 Like
That could be Vinegret, which is / could be authentic, but a different salad . 
https://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/recipes/appetizers/russian-beet-salad-vinegret-винегрет/
Could use sour cream (full fat or reduced fat, but I dislike nonfat) instead of mayo. Or yogurt, but I like sour cream a lot more than I like yogurt.
This is a nice mayo- free Potato Salad. Could add peas and carrots to make it more Russian https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/jacquess-french-potato-salad-358334/amp
1 Like
