There is probably not any other dish in Russia as associated with the New Year’s Eve as potato salad “Olivier”. However, very few people know that this salad was invented by Belgian chef, Lucien Olivier, hence the name of the salad. Monsieur Olivier ran restaurant Hermitage, one of the restaurants of high standing in Moscow, and he invented the original version of the salad in 1860. Back then, the original salad contained different proteins, such as veal tongue, grouse, duck and caviar but later on these fancy ingredients were replaced by the cheaper ones.
I love potato salad “Olivier” but I can’t have it. This salad contains nightshades and thus is not allowed on the AIP diet. Indeed, nightshades are not recommended on the autoimmune paleo diet, because they are notorious to increase inflammation and being prone to the inflammation… so, they are on my list to avoid. However, this year I decided that the upcoming Christmas and the New Year’s Eve is a good enough reason to spoil my household with the Russian-style potato salad, or I should better say notato or fauxtato salad! Luckily, there are so many potato substitutes out there, therefore there is really no reason to feel deprived even on the strict AIP diet! I used arrowroots in this recipe, but feel free to substitute them with other vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, plantain, etc. Even though traditional salad “Olivier” contains sausage, carrots and eggs, I decided to go with its lighter version this year as there are many variations of this salad!
PARIS. Elderly couple shopping for the upcoming holidays.
- 1 pound arrowroots, cooked, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup celery stalk, diced
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- ⅓ cup pickled cucumbers, diced
- ¼ cup capers
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ cup paleo mayonnaise (recipe below)
- ¼ teaspoon wasabi powder*
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- Lemon juice, for serving
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger or to taste**
- In a large serving bowl combine the arrowroots with celery, onion, cucumbers, capers and dill.
- In a small recipient whisk together mayonnaise with wasabi powder, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder and sea salt. Add the mayo mixture to the salad and stir to incorporate.
- Sprinkle with lemon juice and ground ginger, serve and enjoy!
**Use black pepper to season if not on the strict AIP.
Variations: replace arrowroots with cassava or white sweet potatoes and/or add ½ cup diced beef tongue.
- ¼ cup palm shortening
- ½ cup avocado oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Pour into a bowl or jar and use immediately or store in the fridge for a later use.
❄ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ❄
Maria is the blogger behind the Zesty Paleo website. As a Hashimoto's patient for more than a decade, Maria has constantly been taking steps to improve her quality of life, including nutrition and lifestyle choices.
Oh wow!!! I can’t believe I found an AIP Olivie recipe!! Whoo hoo!!! My mama just made it last weekend and the whole family ate it except me (bc of the nightshades 🙁 ) So, I thot to myself that I should try to make it.’ So thanks for posting! I want to try your version of it. I also think that turnips (chopped & boiled) give that “potato” taste; I’ve just used them in a beef veggy soup & it looked & tasted, texture-wise, like a potato! 🙂 I was so excited!
Hey Svetlana!
This recipe is inspired by Russian Olivier salad, because I didn’t add all the ingredients, namely carrots, eggs or meat. I’ve also used AIP-adapted mayonnaise but I find that it has more authentic taste with egg-yolk based mayo. I would recommend you making one at home (if you’ve reintroduced egg yolks). It’s very easy to make and you can use olive oil instead of sunflower utilized in commerce.
Spasibo! I willbe making Oliviet tomorrow and want to prep all the veggies today. Will use Cassava instead of arrowroot and also yes, I’ve re-introduced eggs but will see if I can find a Paleo mayo w/o sunflower oil at my local natural grocery store (it would be one less thing to make ;))!
Excellent choice: cassava is the tastiest potato substitute out there! The only thing, make sure not to overcook the root as it will be too mushy for the salad.