Trio of Salads, Poland - Light Course

Poland witnessed in the 16th century a prodigious cultural and culinary transformation. When the Italian Princess, Bona Sforza married Poland’s King Zygmunt Stary, she introduced an Italian style, culture and cuisine to the Polish royal court. Queen Bona enriched the meat and groats based Polish cuisine with a new variety of vegetables and fruits. Włoszczyzna, “Italian Stuff”, is a mixture of vegetables, such as carrot, parsnip, leek, celery and parsley, often used as a basis for soups. Ever since, the Polish cuisine utilizes sundry vegetables in many traditional dishes, including colorful salads, collectively called Surówka. Surówka is made with different vegetables, raw or fermented, usually flavored with olive oil or sour cream. Our Trio of Salads is made with beets, cabbage and carrots, and flavored with olive oil. Beets are a nutritious root vegetable that has red or yellow color, and a sweet and earthy flavor. Cabbage is a nutritious vegetable, versatile to different cooking techniques and cultivated as densely packed heads with pale green or red leaves. Carrots are a highly nutritious root vegetable, have orange, yellow, red or purple color, and a sweet and earthy flavor. We choose red beets, pale green cabbage and orange carrots to create this refreshing side dish, our Trio of Salads that may be served separately or together. Our Trio of Salads is light, nutritious and tasty.

Beet Salad

Organic beets – 6 small size
Sweet Onion – 1/4 large size
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tablespoons
White Vinegar – 2 tablespoons
Freshly Ground Black Pepper – 1/2 teaspoon
Sea Salt – 1/2 teaspoon

Cabbage Salad

Organic Cabbage – 1/2 small size
Organic Carrot – 1 medium size
Sweet Onion – 1/4 large size
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tablespoons
Freshly Ground Black Pepper – 1/2 teaspoon
Sea Salt – 1/2 teaspoon

Carrot Salad

Organic Carrots – 5 medium size
Lemon – 1/2 lemon (fresh juice)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 3 tablespoons
Sea Salt – a dash

Step 1

Boil the beets for an hour, then peel and shred them using the larger holes of the vegetable grater. Combine the shredded beets, finely chopped onion, olive oil, vinegar, black pepper and salt. Mix lightly and serve the beet salad.

Step 2

Finely slice cabbage, chop onion and shred carrot using the larger holes of the vegetable grater. Combine cabbage, onion, carrot, olive oil, black pepper and salt. Mix lightly and serve the cabbage salad.

Step 3

Shred the carrots using the larger holes of the vegetable grater. Squeeze lemon juice from a half lemon. Combine shredded carrots, lemon juice, olive oil and a dash of salt. Mix lightly and serve the carrot salad.