russian salad / ensalada rusa

This variation on potato salad can be found in tapas bars all across Spain and never fails to satisfy my taste buds. It's not a healthy salad by any stretch of the imagination but it is a great side dish and you can adjust the quantities of any of the ingredients according to your preferences. I would almost never recommend using canned or jarred carrots or peas but in Russian salad they're the only thing that will do. I made a version cooking everything from scratch once and whilst it was a nice salad it just wasn't quite right. The key to success here is to get everything chopped to roughly the the same size. 

Ingredients Serves 6-10 as an accompaniment

1kg waxy potatoes such as cyprus, peeled and boiled whole in salted water then cut into 1cm cubes

approx 250g drained weight of tinned carrots and peas

1 small can of tuna in spring water or brine

handful of green olives in brine (approx 20), roughly chopped

decent pinch white pepper

2 hard boiled eggs, coarsely grated

4-6 tbsp good quality mayonnaise

1. In a large bowl place all the ingredients then stir together carefully until fully combined. Taste for seasoning then adjust as needed.
2. Garnish with strips of grilled red pepper, green olives, more mayonnaise or hard boiled egg halves if you wish.