Not as creamy as what is commonly known in US, or the German potato salad that my German friends from graduate school years used to make, but this one it brings out the fresh herbs’ taste and smell and uses sumac to give the tartness.

This salad is a staple for my mom’s picnics. She taught me how to make this salad, which really does not have a fixed recipe, just like any other salad. One thing that is very important is to make sure you peel and cut the potatoes when they are still steaming hot. Yes, it is painful. But you can make it less painful by using a chopping board. While you are doing this, you are making sure that potato absorb the oil and salt/sumac which makes it really delicious.

If you like to add mint, which would go well with this mix, beware that mint leaves will get dark as it waits.  So, your left over will not be as pretty as the first day.

• 2 lbs red potato
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1 Tbs salt
• 2 Tbs sumac
• 3 - 4 stalks of green onion
• half a bunch of parsley

Put the potatoes and eggs in a big pot, cover with water and let boil until it is easy to put a fork in to the potatoes. Drain and fill the pot with cold water once more. This will not necessarily cool the potatoes immediately but help your hands not to burn. In the mean time, mix the olive oil, salt and sumac in a jar. Put a bit of it in a big bowl. As you peel and cut the potatoes in bite sizes, put them in the big bowl, coat well with the oil sumac mix. Do this until all the eggs and potato is finished, replenishing the oil mixture in the bowl as needed. Cut the green onion and parsley finely, add into the potato mix. Cover and refrigerate until cool.

Many people do not know what to do with beets and for many it is something that they do not even want to taste. I think my husband belongs to both of these categories, leaving me more beets to eat in this household.  I am happy ;)

If you want to give this root veggie a try, try out this mix; beet and avocado for a colorful and nice salad. The contrast in the taste and texture of these two is amazing. By adding some nasturtium flowers I made it a colorful salad for a lovely evening. If you cannot find the nasturtiums, any strong tasting green would do. In fact the recipe I was loosely following was using watercress.

The beets came from our backyard. Poor things, since it has not been cold enough this year I think could not grow as much. They green leaves were so tender that I washed, dried and saved them for a later use. Similarly nasturtiums were right off the garden…

Careful when handling beets — they can stain your clothing.
Here is my version of the salad:

• 2 medium beets
• 1 avocado
• 25 - 30gr (about an ounce) goat cheese
• Handful of nasturtium flower and leaves — or watercress

For the sauce

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil the beets until tender when pierces (about 30 mins.) Cook, peel and cut into thin slices. Divide the avocado into 8 - 12 slices. Put the nasturtium flowers and leaves on the bottom of the plate, add the beet and avocado slices. Top off with crumbled goat cheese, drizzle with the sauce.