Finnish Beet Salad

Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and diced (I prefer white or large new potatoes, which have a less grainy texture)
• 2 tart apples, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, peeled, cooked, and diced
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 2 medium dill pickles, diced or grated
• 3/4 cup diced pickled herring (optional) or salted herring (optional) or minced sardines (optional) or anchovy (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 cups cooked beets, peeled and diced
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons beet juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash sugar
• crumbled bacon (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Combine the potatoes, apples, carrots, onion, pickles, white pepper, and herring (if you're using it).

2. 2

   Mix together the sour cream with the lemon juice, beet juice, salt, and sugar until well blended to make the sour cream dressing.

3. 3

   Traditionally (and this is how you would want to make it for a dinner party), just before serving you would carefully add the beets- because if the beets are added too long before serving, the salad will turn a deep pink, whereas some people prefer it tinted only mildly pink; then you would turn into a salad bowl lined with crisp lettuce and serve chilled with the sour cream dressing mixture on the side.

4. 4

   However, I make the salad for picnics and potlucks and so I mix it all together - not worrying about any steps in preparation - just stir it all together at once, put it in the serving container, put crumbled bacon over the top, and let it chill for at least an hour before I let anybody at it; it comes out nicely bright pink, which I find attractive and kids like.

5. 5

   For Vegetarian option omit the fish and the bacon.