5 Days 5 Lunches is Back. And it’s back with a Persian/Central Asian/Eastern European Classic.
Salad Olivier is something I’ve mentioned/discussed in the past.
This is a classic Central Asian/Eastern European mayo based “salad”. It was created by a Belgian Chef in Moscow in the 1860’s. Like any great dish in the 1860’s, it spread upon the wisps of everyone’s curly mustache. Sike. But it did spread, all over Central Asia, everyone has their own version of Salad Olivier. It’s probably because it’s a catch-all salad and you can put whatever you want in it (in theory).
The Iranian version of this salad varies greatly from the original version, (i.e. it doesn’t have aspic in it, which SIDEBAR OMG SAY THAT OUT LOUD!! You will laugh, they totally changed that spelling to not spell like it sounds…aspic…you saucy devil you).
Okay back to the story, so the Iranian version is traditionally eggs, potatoes, pickles, and maybe the occasional chicken or carrot. Or at least that’s how I experienced it. I’ve also seen some mortadella bologna being thrown in, I’m not against any added cured meats in anything.
My mom would always make this growing up. It was easy and it satisfied us kids. It was also one of her sandwich staples. I didn’t always like it, sometimes she used Miracle Whip or some other low fat mayo which was too sweet. But when the ratios were right and the ingredients were the right balance, momma had a good salad on her hands.
I love it with chicken, so I only make it that way, but you can certainly not add chicken to it. This is a great sandwich egg salad and it keeps for a couple of days. It makes for a great lunch too, it’s also relatively cheap so you won’t break the bank while you get a tasty sandwich all week. Plus deli meats can be pricey and even more unhealthy than mayo, so bonus!
If you liked this Persian-centric dish, you are going to love what I have in store for you next week. You will be able to find more classic Persian dishes on October 9th, 2014 as I and the world’s top Persian Cuisine Bloggers do a Mehregan Persian Food Round Up #Mehregan2014. Over 20 Persian Cuisine Bloggers will post some of their classic Persian dishes that remind them of fall and family. On their posts you will find links to all of the other posts around the world to some of the best Persian dishes. If you’d like to learn more about Mehregan as a Persian Holiday, click here.
Recipe
Ingredients
4 Hard Boiled Eggs (don’t over boil them, just about 8 or 9 minutes is enough most of the time)
2 Tbsp. Mayo
2 Tsp. Olive Oil
1 Tsp. Pepper
2 Tsp. Salt
1 Cooked Chicken Breast, cut up (I like a chicken breast from an actual whole chicken for this, but you can use your standard chicken breast)
4 Cornichon Pickles (diced)
2 Potatoes (boiled, soft enough to dice, but not so mushy that they have no structural integrity at all)
Method
Dice up your eggs, potatoes, pickles, and chicken. Put them in a mixing bowl. Add your mayo, olive oil, pepper, and salt. Mix together (don’t smush it so it becomes a mushy mess though). Just mix it enough so everything is even and consistent. If you need more mayo, add more, you don’t want it to be dry.
Serve on whatever bread you like, or eat it by itself.
Enjoy!
- 4 Hard Boiled Eggs (don’t over boil them, just about 8 or 9 minutes is enough most of the time)
- 2 Tbsp. Mayo
- 2 Tsp. Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp. Pepper
- 2 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Cooked Chicken Breast, cut up (I like a chicken breast from an actual whole chicken for this, but you can use your standard chicken breast)
- 4 Cornichon Pickles (diced)
- 2 Potatoes (boiled, soft enough to dice, but not so mushy they have no structural integrity at all)
- Dice up your eggs, potatoes, pickles, and chicken. Put them in a mixing bowl. Add your mayo, olive oil, pepper, and salt. Mix together (don’t smush it so it becomes a mushy mess though). Just mix it enough so everything is even and consistent. If you need more mayo, add more, you don’t want it to be dry.
- Serve on whatever bread you like, or eat it by itself.
