1 hour · mostly hands-off
Beet and Potato Salad with Pickled Mushrooms
Boiled beets and baby potatoes with dill, olives, mozzarella, pickled crimini and white shimeji.
- Time
- 60 minutes
- The jars
- Pickled Crimini + Pickled White Shimeji
- Ferment
- 21 days
If a beet salad sat on your family's holiday table, this beet and potato salad will feel familiar. It starts like Eastern European vinegret, often called Russian vinaigrette salad, with boiled beets, potatoes, dill and shallot, then goes its own way with olives, mozzarella and two jars: Pickled Crimini for body and Pickled White Shimeji for a crisp, bright finish.
The dressing is just olive oil, salt and pepper. The mushrooms bring the sharpness.
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets
- 1 lb (450 g) yellow baby potatoes
- ½ jar Golden Grove Pickled Crimini, drained
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- A small bunch of dill, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
- ½ jar Golden Grove Pickled White Shimeji, drained
- 1 cup mini mozzarella balls, plus a spoonful of their herb oil
- ½ cup kalamata and black olives
Method
- Boil the beets whole, in their skins, until a knife slides in easily, 30 to 45 minutes. Let them cool, rub off the skins and cut into cubes.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, let them cool, then cut in half.
- Put the beets and potatoes in a large bowl and add the crimini.
- Add the shallot, dill and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the white shimeji, the mozzarella and a spoonful of its herb oil.
- Add the olives, toss gently and serve.
Why this jar
Crimini have classic mushroom depth with a clean pickled finish, enough to hold their own next to earthy beets and potatoes. White shimeji are the bright jar: crisp and clean, they keep a hearty salad from feeling heavy. Both spend 21 days in the brine.
How to cook beets for salad
Boil them whole with the skins on, so they keep their color and flavor. Medium beets take 30 to 45 minutes and larger ones up to an hour; they're done when a knife slides in easily. Let them cool, then rub off the skins with a paper towel. You can cook them a day ahead.
Make it ahead
Beets color everything they touch. Dress the beets and potatoes up to a day ahead and keep them in the fridge, then add the white shimeji and mozzarella just before serving so they stay white.
For the holiday table
It sits happily with the other cold dishes on a zakuski table or next to a relish tray.