Salad Olivieh

 Ingredients

• 3 medium large potatoes, cooked
• 3 eggs, hard boiled
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
• 19 oz can of Persian pickles
• Dressing
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp  mustard
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper

Method:

1. First short cut: pick your favorite roast chicken. My local Albertson’s makes a delicious Lemon Basil roast chicken.  You can cook your own chicken from scratch, but the added flavor from the roast chicken is really good!
   
   
   
   
   
2. Removed bones and skin and shred chicken. Also give it a rough chop to make the pieces a bit smaller.
   
   
   
3. Small dice the eggs and pickles.
   
   
   
4. Dice the potatoes as well making them slightly bigger in size than the pickles and eggs.
   
   
   
5. Short cut two: Buy a bag of frozen peas and carrots.  In the traditional Salad Olivieh the peas and carrots should be cooked.  Mela informed me that the secret to a good Salad Olivieh is to not cook the peas. So I took this advice a step further and also saved the time spent on cutting the carrots. I just throw the peas and carrots in my salad raw, straight out of the bag.
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
6. Place all ingredients in a big mixing bowl.
   
   
   
7. In a different mixing bowl prepare the dressing by mixing mayo, mustard, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper.  I personally have a love affair with Dijon mustard, but you can use regular mustard too!
   
   
   
8. Mix ingredients and dressing well.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Taste and check seasoning.  Cover and let rest in the fridge for a few hours allowing the flavors to come together.
10. Salad Olivieh is an excellent addition to your appetizers table, a great side dish, and a fantastic choice for a picnic.  It is also delicious in a sandwich form, either with pita bread or French baguette!