Polish Salad with Homemade Mayonnaise

(6-8 servings)

This salad is similar to Russian salad, sans the ham. I love the bits of apple in it, but you can leave that out if you prefer.

I made my own lemon flavored mayonnaise using olive oil which was much better tasting than store bought. I followed the instructions (link below) and used an immersion blender as suggested. The next time I will try a food processor to see how that turns out.

30 second lemon mayonnaise, adapted from here
1 cup olive oil at room temperature
1 pasteurized whole egg at room temperature
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 tsp very fine lemon zest
salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Place everything into a 1 pint mason jar (with a lid for storage). Place an immersion blender into the jar, allowing it to rest on the bottom. Turn on the blender and and when you see the olive oil and egg begin to thicken, slowly lift the blender up (while it's on).

When everything in the jar looks like it's emulsified, turn the blender off. Taste and add more salt and pepper (or lemon juice) if needed.

The leftover mayonnaise will keep for about a week, refrigerated.

salad
4-5 medium potatoes, scrubbed
1 medium turnip, peeled
3-4 carrots, scrubbed clean
1/3 - 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
3-4 tbsp plain yogurt
1-2 tbsp mustard
1 apple, cored and diced
3-4 dill pickles, diced
2 green onions, sliced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 cup peas, frozen are fine
salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Bring the potatoes and turnip to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, then add the carrots. Cook another 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Drain and cool.

In a large salad bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard.

Dice the cooled potatoes, turnip and carrots and add to the bowl. Add the apple, dill pickles, green onions, eggs and peas. Toss until everything is evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Allow the salad to sit for about 30 minutes before serving to give the flavors a chance to meld a bit.