Russian Vinegret Salad Recipe
Another Russian salad is “Vinegret”. To be honest, I was looking for a good translation in Google dictionary and the first variant I got was “Russian Salad”
As I cannot call all the salads in my blog just “Russian salads” I will use another option – "beetroot salad". Since one of its ingredients is actually beetroot, I think we can can agree on that name for now 
By the way, just like Olivier, it’s another common Russian salad, very popular during the Russian New Year.
Some of its ingredients are very similar to Olivier salad. You also need to boil 4-5 potatoes, couple of carrots, and also one big or couple of medium beetroots. I used to boil all the vegetables at the same time in one big pot, but keep in mind that beetroot needs a little bit more time to cook than the rest.
The "secret" ingredient which brings that very special taste to the salad is sour cabbage or "sauerkraut". Please note that although sauerkraut is very similar to Russian sour cabbage, there can still be some minor taste differences.
My mom always prepares the sour cabbage during Autumn, along with brine pickles and all kinds of jams. It is an excellent source of vitamins during the long Russian winter, and is also very good for a Russian cabbage soup called “Schi” and even like a snack for dinner.
I should also mention that one of the traditional ways to make yourselves feel better in the morning after a long party with a lot of vodka is to drink a pickles or cabbage brine 
Unfortunately, I have never tried it, so I cannot prove how much it really helps.
The crown jewel of Russian cuisine...
But just in case you want to check it, be careful - it should only be salted and not marinated, because the vinegar in marinade can be dangerous for your health. On the other hand, if you do it right, you'll fee the healing power of this ancient Russian method
Well, we stemmed away from our salad… What else do we need? Again, just like with Olivier, we need green peas from a can, a couple of brine pickles and one medium-sized onion (can be green onion as well).
Now, we cut all the ingredients to small cubes. If you add enough brine pickles and cabbage there is no need to add more salt - but that's up to you. You can add black pepper if you like. Then, you add a little bit (a couple of table spoons) of 3% vinegar (this is inf fact where the name of the salad comes from)
You dress the salad with sunflower oil, but not olive’s oil as it does not fit here. However, you can use any other oil without strong fragrance. If you ask me, the best option is the sunflower oil with a smell of roasted sunflower seeds.
There is no standard recipe with exact quality of the ingredients. It all depends of what you like more. You can "play" with the proportions of products until it tastes just right (more sour, more sweet, more spicy etc.)
Oh yeah, I remembered now about one more thing related to this salad - most of Russians like to put salted herring into it. Honestly I am not a fan of it at all, but just for your information and to be objective, I will give some tips about it soon.
Related posts:
- Sushki
- Russian Soup with Meatballs
- Russian Manty Photos
- Get ready for the coming Chebureki!
- Buckwheat Porridge
- Russian cutlets coming soon!
- Russian Potatoes in a Coat
- Russian Salted Herring
- How to Cook Golubzy
- New Year and Manty
- Russian Olivier Salad Recipe
- Russian food III
- Russian food II
- Russian Food I
Couldnt be written any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks again for sharing.
Just like Nasty mentioned there are so many variations. My family only use sourcraut, no pickles. And we also put kidney(red)beans instead of green peas. Also we kinda stir-fry onions in the pan (make it look lite golden) and use that as dressing part for the salad. Good blog Nastya! Really enjoying it:)
Oh, forgot to tell you that I coached people here in USA to call this salad “Russian beets salad” When my hubby looked at this salad first time his response was :” I am not sure I can eat purple food!” Silly, it is such a yumm!
Ok, thanks! Now I will know how it’s better to call it
I also remembered that some people add mushrooms as well.
Brilliant, thanks, I will visit again later.
I like this blog layout . How do you build it? It’s rather sensible
Youve got it in one. Couldnt have put it btteer.
Thank you for another fantastic post. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.