Green Banana Curry, Shukta Vegetables and Panch Phoron

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

The road trip has fizzled out a bit over the  last week or so, but I wanted to put up one last post in honor of wrapping up VeganMoFo. The last locale for the road trip turned out to be Bangladesh, so here's my shot at a couple of recipes I found on this Bangladeshi cooking site.

The first recipe that caught my eye was a green banana curry. As with the green mango recipes, I can't say whether the plaintains I used are the same variety of hard, cooking banana that would be traditional, but at least these plaintains were truly green, and I think,  probably similar in texture starch content to ones used in that part of the world.

Kanchkolar Dom or Green Banana Curry from Bengali Cooking Recipes

(Serves 6)

4 green/unripe plantains, peeled and sliced  into 1/2-inch pieces

2 green chilis, chopped (I used green serrano chilis)

2 potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 small or 1 large onion, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

1-2 tablespoons cooking oil as needed/or desired

1/4 teasoon ground cardamon

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

2 teaspoon sugar or other sweetner of choice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

salt to taste

In a sauce pan add two cups of water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and the plantain slices, bring to a boil and allow to cook for ~5+ minutes. (I boiled mine for ~ 7-8 minutes). Drain the plantains and pan fry in ~ 1 tablespoon oil/or use a non-stick pan w/o oil, unitil the plantain slices are browned on both sides.

While the plantain slices are browning, parboil the potatoes in salted water until somewhat tender, but not cooked all the way ~ 6-8 minutes. (Alternately, you could process the potatoes along with the plantain, but keep in mind that depending on how big your potato slices are, the plantain will probably take a little longer to cook.)

When the plantains are brown, remove from pan and set aside. In same pan with remaining oil, or a touch more if there's none left, add cumin seeds, onion, green chilis, cinnamon, and cardamon and allow them to saute over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and saute for another few minutes. Finally, add the plantain back in with the lemon juice, sweetener, and 1/2 cup of water, bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook for another ~ 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

The starch from the potatoes and the plantain should help thicken the broth. (Use more water for more broth if desired.)

 

An easy way to peel the tough skin from the unripe plantain is to cut the ends off, slice through the skin lengthwise and then pry the skin off slowly by running your fingers underneath the skin. (I hope that doesn't sound x-rated or anything.)

I was tempted to add coconut milk to this, but didn't in order to keep with the original recipe. The dish is quite pretty because the turmeric turns the plantains a lovely yellow hue. It is nicely spiced, and I especially like the lemon juice added at the end. 

The second dish I made is called Shukta Vegetable with Lentil. The recipe calls for a lauo (or lau), which is bottle gourd. Bottle gourd is a squash/or melon (whatever you want to call it)...a curcubit at any rate that is described as having a light green skin with white flesh inside. Harvested young, it is used as a vegetable. Harvested when mature and dried, they can be used as bowls or bottles. (Very cool, I totally want some gourd bowls now.)

Well, it probably won't come as a surprise, but I did not use bottle gourd. It's not generally available in my local grocery, and I will admit that I'm a bit lazy when it comes to sourcing ingredients. Instead, I used another member of the curcubit family: chayote, which is like bottle gourd in so far as it has a green skin and white flesh inside...outside of that, I do not have a clue as to how they might compare. 

I had never tried chayote before, and didn't actually buy it specifically for this recipe. But rather, I bought a couple a few weeks ago after being inspired by Zoa's cool post on this squash earlier this month. With no bottle gourd around, I figured what the hey, let's give the chayote a try.

Shukta Vegetable with Lentil from Bengali Cooking Recipes

(serves 6)

1 lb lauo/bottle gourd (I used 2 chayote squash (unpeeled)), cut into 1/2-inch peices

1/2 cup dry mung beans

1 cup green peas, (not dried)

1 teaspoon sugar or other sweetener of choice

1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

handful of coriander/cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

salt to taste

In a sauce pan over medium-low, dry roast the mung beans slightly (~1 minute). Now add the ginger and turmeric, salt and 2 cups of water, cover and cook over medium-high until mung beans are tender. About halfway through cooking, add in the chayote pieces. When the mung beans and squash are tender, toss in the peas, the sweetener, and cilantro and cook for another minute or so.

When you are ready to serve, heat the oil in a separate pan, add the mustard seeds and stir quickly. Remove from heat and pour cooked vegetables/mung beans in the oil and stir through.

(Note: the original recipe says to add the bottle gourd in at the beginning and cook it with the mung beans the whole time, but I wasn't sure whether the gourd might be a little harder than the chayote, so I added it in later, probably  ~10 minutes before the mung beans were done.)

Both dishes were tasty, especially with a little Frank's Red Hot sprinkled over the top.

And finally, this is more of an aside, but I wanted to quickly mention Panch Phoron, or Bengali 5-spice (panch=five, phoron=flavor). I thought I would use it for this destination, but as it turned out, none of the recipes I ended up making called for it. It consists of fenugreek, anise, nigella, mustard (some sources call for yellow mustard, some for brown), and cumin. It can be used to aromatize oil, or stewed into dals and other dishes. The overall flavor is a little bittersweet, a little licorice-y, and I think it looks pretty.

So there you have it. This random road trip has come to its end. I had a great time and learned a lot from trying new (to me) recipes from other countries and veganizing them. Although, I didn't get to many destinations, I think Algeria and Hungary were my favorites.

I didn't get to read nearly as many blogs as I would have liked either, but I intend to keep perusing the blog roll at over at Vegan MoFo HQ throughout the year to come. There are so many great blogs out there, in MoFo land and beyond!

Bye, bye Vegan MoFo, until next year! Thanks for all the great blogging and good luck to all MoFoers everywhere! And to all vegan bloggers in general (MoFo or not): you guys rock my world! --Love Central--

Finally, *thank you most sincerely* to everyone who came along on the road trip...I really appreciated your company, humor, wisdom, and fun comments!

So long, farewell, and adieu to yieu, and yieu, and yeiu in the languages from the road trip along the way:

Adios
Catch ya later
Ma’a salama 
Viszlát
Aabar dekha hobe

Holiday Eats & Mushroom-Pecan Pâté

The road trip theme is once again eclipsed by more local events. I hope to get one or two more road trip posts up, but today I'm talking family feasting. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom's place and shared dinner with her and one of my brothers. Mom and bro ate some unmentionables, but we brought our own main course, our own gravy, and the pies. My mom is such a sweetie, she made all the side dishes vegan.

The salad above was really lovely, mom made a raw cranberry salsa and stuffed some anjou pear halves with them, a nice dish. The sweet, soft pears went nicely with the crunchier, more tart cranberry salsa.

Our main course was based on the Portabella Wellington recipe from the Cafe Flora cookbook, which is a mushroom-pecan pâté, layered with braised leek and portabella mushrooms, then wrapped in puff pastry.

In my version, I used crimini mushrooms for the pâté, and instead of the portabellas, I used a layer of maple-cranberry sauce (find Laurie's delicious recipe here!) and maple-roasted kabocha squash. Ground flax and nutritional yeast  stood in for the eggs and cheese in the original recipe. The leeks are braised in white wine, and add a very nice mild allium dimension:

My brother said they looked like pop tarts, lol, and that's exactly what I thought of too as I put them together. These were about 6-inch pastries, and one of them is plenty for a meal. They are nice because everyone can eat one, or half of one, as an extra side dish. I have to say, these were delicious, and were also very popular with the non-vegans at the table.  

Here's the mushroom-pecan pâté after baking:

Not exactly eye candy, but it's rich and super tasty. And, as the cookbook guides, leftovers that don't go into the Wellingtons are excellent in sandwiches. The pâté can be made a day or two in advance. 

Pecan-Mushroom Pâté, based on Portabella Wellington recipe from Cafe Flora Cookbook, by Catherine Geier and Carol Brown

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced,

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 tbsp chopped, fresh thyme / or use herbes de Provence (I used both, probably 1 tbsp fresh thyme and 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1.5 cups lightly toasted pecans, chopped into small bits

3 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Grease a bread loaf pan and line with parchment/baking paper. Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor, until finely chopped...maybe 4 or 5 pulses.

Saute the onion over medium heat until translucent, add the garlic and chopped mushrooms and saute for another ~8 - 10 minutes. Add the sherry and the herbs to deglaze the pan. Continue cooking until most of the sherry has evaporated, add salt and pepper to taste and fold in the chopped pecans, ground flax/water mixture, and the nutritional yeast. 

Put pâté into the lined loaf pan and bake for ~45 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then chill in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting pâté into slices. 

For the braised leek, just clean and chop one large leek and saute in olive oil until the leek begins to caramelize, then add 1/4 cup white wine and allow to cook for another ~ 10 minutes, or until most of the wine is evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

For the squash,  brush 1/2-inch slices of kabocha, or other winter squash of choice with maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste and roast in 350F oven until tender.

Here's another delicious side my mom put together, roasted yams with apples and pecans:

And mom's yummy rolls:

We did imbibe quite liberally, and I think I must have had a little too much wine, because all the photos of the plated dinner came out somewhat blurry:

Blurry or not, it was quite satisfactory. The gravy is a rich red wine gravy, but any kind of gravy that suits your fancy would be good with the Wellingtons in my opinion.

Road trip resumes soon, (hopefully).

Happy Weekend! 

Vegan SnoFo

Yaay, for snow days! I spent last weekend getting my garden winterized for the snow... and it's here. I haven't had to go into work, and that is good. We've been out playing and wanted to make a snow creature, but the snow is too dry and it won't pack, so we wrote messages instead.

Here's a little hummingbird at the feeder, which looks empty, but it's not.


Stay warm little hummingbird!

Here's a kitty paw:

Here's a kitty:

The hoop house, housing what are surely frozen veggies by now:

We walked down to the lake and saw that someone else was one his way down there too:

Some pretty flowers along the way:

The lake is lovely in the snow, especially on a sunny afternoon:

Bottoms up:

Two bottoms up:

I guess it was rude of me to take pics of their hineys...they swam off in a huff...who can blame them?

A pretty tree, who likes to grow sideways into the lake:

These guys are Canada geese. If you look closely in the background, you'll see the Seattle Space Needle.

Icicles:

If you're in the US, happy holiday weekend, if you're not, then just happy happy.  

Everything's Coming up Green Mangoes

Aamer Ombol and Aam Porar Sharbat: green mango refreshers

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

This post couldn't be less appropriate to the local weather here at the moment. Both of the recipes are cooling summer treats, while here in the Pacific Northwest, we're having our first snow of the season.

Yet, the roadtrip happened upon Bangladesh and while searching for recipe ideas, these two caught my eye. I'm not trying to imply that the weather in Bangladesh is terribly warm at the moment. From what I can gather, April tends to be the hottest month there, while January is the coolest month with temperatures averaging in the mid-70's F. According to an online weather site, it's 84F and clear in Dhaka today. But, I digress.

I was a bit befuddled over the weekend, trying to figure out what to make for this destination...I quickly came to find that there are many regions, so many dishes: some sort of familiar, others completely new to me...Where to begin? What to do? How to begin on the path of the unititiated?

After all that, I decided to try a beverage and a cold soup, both made with green (unripe) mango. I have a confession about these recipes: I believe they are common in West Bengal, but I do not know for sure whether they are also common in Bangladesh. I'm hoping that they are...as I say, befuddled.

I'll begin with the chilled soup: Aamer Ombol – Chilled Green Mango Soup

This was my favorite of the two items. A thin, cooling soup, usually eaten as part of a meal during hot summer months, it consists of green mango, dusted with turmeric and then simmered with chili, mustard seeds, and some sugar.  If you're interested, I highly recommend reading the engaging post (with full recipe).

Note: In the recipe link above, I think she leaves out the turmeric on the ingredient list, but mentions it in the directions. I just sprinkled the fruit with a light dusting of  turmeric before adding it to the pot to simmer.

Not surprisingly, it tastes like stewed fruit, pleasantly settling on the tastebuds somewhere between sweet and slightly savory. The chili in my batch (I used 1 small chili)  was not too strong; I think I would have preferred it a little hotter. The turmeric and the mustard seeds add a mellow dimension and it turns into a mild soup with sort of a deep undertone (if that makes sense). It's easy to imagine this being very suitable and welcome in hot weather. As it was, I was happy to eat it for breakfast, amidst the snow.

The next item is called Aam Panna, or Aam Porar Sharbat (in West Bengal)

I forgot to save some mint for a garnish, (darn it), but this is a beverage made with roasted unripe mangoes, mint, cumin, black salt, and green chilis. (In case you haven't guessed, aam = mango.) It's a cool beverage, meant to be the consistentcy of orange juice rather than a thicker shake-like drink. Again, I encourage you to read through the delightful post where I found the full recipe.

After you roast the mangoes, you remove the skins, collect the pulp and blend it with the mint and other spices, along with enough water to acheive the correct consistency. It was a fun process, and the drink is wonderfully minty. I have to say, the cumin was a bit strong for my tastes, and making this again, would reduce the amount by half. According to the recipe, using the kala namak, or black salt, is essential to the flavor.

Post scriptum: I used the wrong kind of salt! The salt I used is indeed black, but it was black lava salt, the Hawaiian kind. Oh well, next time I'll try it with real kala namak! Thanks to Laurie for pointing me in the right direction.

...Looking in on the colorful world of aam from the snow:

Pörkölt

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

Pörkölt is a stew that (according to my very erudite source of information: Wikipedia (j/k)),  differs from  goulash in that it is braised in the oven (pörkölt means 'roasted'), instead of being simmered on the stove. The recipe I followed is flavored with marjoram and paprika, then braised in red wine. Along with goulash and paprikas, pörkölt is considered a national dish in Hungary.

It's not the traditional main ingredient for this dish (traditionally made with unmentionables), but I thought eggplant (aka aubergine) sounded good for this.  The slow cooking allows it to really soak up the flavors of the wine and spices.

The cookbook recommends a Kadarka wine to go with this, which according to this site, is a "light coloured red, normally low in tannins but has vibrant acidity, rustic and raspberry aromas, and a spicy aftertaste that makes it an ideal easy drinking wine." I used a Pinot Noir from Oregon.


Eggplant Pörkölt based on a recipe from Hungarian Cuisine: A Gourmet's Guide
(Serves 4)

1 large (or 2 medium) eggplant, chopped into large chunks
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
2 medium-size sweet peppers
1 large tomato
4 small potatoes, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup red wine
1 cup veggie broth
1 tsp. paprika (I used sweet paprika)
4 sprigs fresh marjoram, more to garnish
salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300F (150C)

In a large stove- and oven-safe pot, saute the onions and garlic. When the onions start to look translucent,  toss in the eggplant and the peppers allow it to brown a little. Add the paprika and toss through. Add the  potatoes, tomatoes, marjoram, wine and broth, bring to a simmer, then transfer to the oven to braise uncovered for ~45 minutes. Add salt an pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped marjoram.

Ad Hoc Note: I should say that the wikipedia article states adamantly that pörkölt should not have potato...but hey, I'm a rebel...that, and the recipe I used called for them.

This smelled really lovely in the oven. The taste is rich and naturally smokey from the paprika. The eggplant is soft and flavorful as are the potatoes. It is really yummy; I'll make this again. It would also be nice garnished with a little tofu sour cream, pine nut cream, or what have you.

And in honor of it being Friday, time to slap it up and have some fun with some Hungarian folkdancing:

Oh, and one more thing, here's the next stop:

Bangladesh sounds interesting.

Tailor's Collar Soup or Szabógallér-leves

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

Szabógallér-leves is a traditional Hungarian soup: "leves" = soup, and Szabógallér = tailors' collar, which refers to the triangular ravioli-esque dumplings that are in it. This is a rich broth with veggies, dumplings, and in this veganized version, baked tofu.

For this, I made two varieties of ravioli/dumpling fillings (traditionally meat) which were potato-chive-parsley, and walnut-sun dried tomato-paprika. I was torn as to which sounded better, so I made some of each. The dough is just a basic pasta dough...I always use Vegan Dad's recipe, which I highly recommend because it's easy to make and just as easy to work with.

To get started, make the dumplings:

Vegan  Szabógallér-leves Dumplings (Soup recipe follows)

(Of course, these fillings are just my suggestions...whatever mixture that sounds good to you would work.)

1 batch Vegan Dad's pasta dough

Walnut-Sun Dried Tomato-Paprika Filling:
1 cup raw walnuts
6 sun-dried tomato halves, chopped into small peices (if using dry packed ones, reconstitute them in some warm water or broth for about 30 minutes first)
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika (use sweet or hot...whatever suits your fancy)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until you get a mince-like texture.

Potato-Chive-Parsley Filling:

1 large potato
1 small handfull chives, chopped fine
1 small handfull parsley chopped fine
pinch of salt
Earth Balance or olive oil to taste

Boil the potato, then make a mash with the remaining ingredients.

Once you have your fillings and your dough made, roll out the dough to about 1/16 inch thickness. Cut out circles (~ 4-6 inches in diameter...the bigger the circle, the easier they are to make).

Cut each circle in half and place about 1 teaspoon (or more if it will fit) of filling on one side of the half circles. Make a "glue" by mixing 1 tsp flour with a little water to make a paste. Brush the pastry "glue" around the edges of each half circle. Fold the dough over lengthwise, and press the edges firmly, but gently with your fingers or a fork to seal the dumplings.

Now for the soup:

Vegan  Szabógallér-leves/Talior's Collar Soup
(serves 4)
6 cups rich veggie broth ( I used 1 cup no-beef broth, 2 cups low-sodium veggie broth, and 3 cups water)
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
2 carrots, diced large
1 (smallish) celeriac bulb, diced large
8 oz soy-baked tofu, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (I just marinated a few thick slices in soy sauce and baked them in the oven for ~ 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
Pinch of paprika (sweet or hot) to taste
Pre-made dumplings (see recipe above)
Salt if needed: depending on how salty the veggie broth is, you may not need to add any salt...taste and add salt if desired at the end

Saute the onion slowly over medium-low, allowing it to caramelize a little. Add in the garlic and saute for another ~ 2-3 minutes. Add in the peppercorns and veggie broth and bring up to a simmer. When the broth is simmering, add the carrots and the celeriac and continue to simmer gently. About 8 minutes before serving, gently drop in the dumplings and the tofu and continue to simmer until the dumplings float to the top. Taste for salt, add to taste if needed, and sprinkle with paprika to finish if desired.

dumplings and veggies simmering in broth
(The corner where my stove is has to be one of the darkest corners known to man.)

Note: The original recipe called for parsley root, which I didn't have. So, you may also want to add some parsley root along with the celeriac and carrot if you can find it.

This is a hearty and tasty soup; perfect for using autumn vegetables.

In doing some image searches, I see that the Hungarian capital is a beautiful city indeed:

 Source: http://www.budapest-transfers.net/

Széchenyi Chain Bridge over the River Danube between Buda and Pest 

and the Royal Palace Buda

 Source: http://www.destinationguidebudapest.com

Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom)

Source: http://www.destinationguidebudapest.com

Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom) by night

Source: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

Budapest's Széchenyi Baths

Back in a day or two with another dish from Hungary. (All Hungarian, All the Time)
Rose Tobin Seattle

Roseann LaPonte

Rosanne Tobin

Carrot-Mushroom-Potato Salad (Bakonyi Saláta)

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

The road trip arrives in Hungary today, specifically, to the mountainous Bakonyi region, where I assume this salad...or something similar, hails from. My mom visited Hungary about 15 years ago; she fell in love with Budapest, and while she was there, picked up a Hungarian cookbook:

Obviously geared towards a tourist audience, this book is written in English and has many attractive photos of what I assume are traditional Hungarian dishes. At first, I was going to make a plain Hungarian potato salad, which looks like this in the book:

The presentation looks so attractive to me.

But, I rethought the decision when I saw another salad recipe calling for potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. It may sound like a slightly odd combo, but the dressing is oil and vinegar (my favorite for any kind of salad), and I imagined it would turn out like marinated mushrooms and veggies. And it did. If you like marinated mushrooms and onions, and you like potatoes and dill, you'd probably like this salad.

The recipe calls for boletus mushrooms, which are probably common in that part of the world. I used some large crimini mushrooms instead.

Bakonyi Saláta, from Hungarian Cuisine, A Gourmet Guide


Makes 8 servings:

1 pound mushrooms (button, crimini, whatever sounds good), sliced
1 large onion (I used a combo of red and yellow), sliced fine
2 large  (or 4 medium) potatoes (whatever kind you like)
2 carrots, sliced
1 bunch fresh dill fronds (~ cup chopped)

Dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice ( I like it on the vinegary side)
1 tsp sugar (or other sweetener of choice/or use some seasoned rice vinegar)
salt and pepper taste

(For fat-free version, maybe replace the oil with water and some mustard...use agave or similar for the sweetener, so it "clings" a little to the veggies.)

Boil the potatoes with the skins on until they are soft, but not overcooked (you want them to stay together in the salad.) I usually take them off the heat before they are soft and let them steep for ~10 minutes in the cooking water. About 2 minutes before you take the potatoes off the heat, toss in the carrot slices; this way they blanche a little but keep most of their crispness.

Drain the potatoes and carrots, peel the potatoes if you want or leave the skins on if you like. Cut the potatoes into peices and toss in a large bowl with carrots, mushrooms, onions, dill. Mix the salad dressing ingredients together and toss with the potatoes and vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least 2 - 3 hours; overnight is better in my opinion.

Technically, the recipe says to chop the vegetables into small peices, but I left mine in big chunks. It's up to you. Also, the recipe didn't call for the paprika over the top, but I (perhaps a bit heavy-handedly) went for it anyway.

Back tomorrow with some soup.