Meat Salad

Here in Latvia they have a lots of salads. And at parties when they have a cold buffet people all bring something they could put together with what they had at home. Deli's here also have a huge selection of sometimes 20 or more salads. This is one of my favorites here and is a heartier version of potato salad. I had never made it at home until I found this recipe in my cooking magazine. Četras Sezonas- November 2013 edition. Here is the recipe with a few changes- I skipped the anchovies and capers.

Boiling the meat:
400 gram beef (I used pork)
2 branches of rosemary
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves

Salad:
630 grams boiled, peeled and cubed potatoes
270 g. peeled, boiled, cubed carrots
130 g. boiled eggs, chopped.
280 g. dill pickles, chopped.
300 g. canned, drained peas

Dressing:
150 g. mayonnaise
3-4 t. Dijon mustard
7 cloves garlic- crushed.
3 t. Worcestershire sauce
300 g. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Boil meat in about 1-2 inches of water with the spices until thoroughly cooked. Drain. Cool and chop finely.
• Boil potatoes, carrots and eggs. Cool, peel, chop so that they are uniform in size. 
• Chop pickles and add that and peas to meat, potatoes, carrots and eggs. 
• Mix dressing separately. Then add to potato mixture  Mix well, season to taste.

Embrace The Season- Beet Salad -1

Summer is over, autumn too is nearly gone. With the changing of seasons means that the produce of summer also had ended. Here where I live the natives try to buy locally. And with this means the change of diet as winter comes.

The veges that will last the winter are those that can be kept in cellars and will still be able to add a bit of color and some vitamins to our daily diets.

I have decided to share some of these veges with you and some recipes to help each of embrace the changing of the seasons and eat more healthy by using locally grown veges.

I never ate many beets growing up in the USA, but here they are cheap and popular.

This salad is one that I am fond of here, it is fast, easy and even my kids love it and ask for more. I typically boil 4 medium size beets, which will last a couple of days and a couple of salads.

Beet Salad- Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
2 medium size beets- boiled and peeled.
1-2 cloves of garlic-depending on how much you like garlic.
1-2 T. mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Method:

Boil the beets until tender. Peel them when cool, their peels slip off very easily without even using a knife. Grate the beets with a course grater. Finely grate or chop the garlic. Add mayo and salt and pepper. Stir and season to taste.

Cheese Salad

Cheese salad is very popular in Latvia and since I am constantly hungry now due to my growing baby, I try to eat foods packed with protein. This salad can be dressed up for special occasions by putting it in on fancy crackers or in salty tart shells. It is served that way as an appetizer here.

Ingredients: (For 2 people)
1 boiled egg
1 boiled or steamed carrot (1/2 if yours are large)
6 oz. grated cheese - In Latvian almost all cheeses are white and I use a simple white cheese. You could probably use cheddar. Try a variety of whatever you have on hand.
2 cloves finely minced garlic.
3 T. mayo
Pepper to taste.

Instructions:
Grate ingredients. Mix together and refrigerate. Best if it has time for the flavors to "marry." We love it on crackers or with some delicious bread. Enjoy!