Beef Salad (Salata de boeuf)

Now this is an interesting salad and I can't say I've had this anywhere else or seen it on any menu.  But it is the most traditional salad in Romania for all holidays.  If we didn't make this, it just wouldn't feel like Christmas, or Easter or whatever.  Growing up I was always in charge of cutting up all the meat and vegetables.  It was my favorite thing to do.  It is very delicious but I would imagine somewhat high in calories because of all the mayonnaise.  My mother always used to make it with turkey though, even though it's called a beef salad, she just doesn't like beef, but ever since I got married, I only make it with beef and I must say I like both versions. Now normally when I make this salad I don't use a recipe with exact quantity for each ingredient, so it doesn't really matter if you're exact.  Here's what you'll need:

• about 2 lbs of beef (or turkey)
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• a jar of pickles, once it's all chopped you'll need about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of diced pickles, the more the better
• 2 lbs potatoes
• 1 lb carrots
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup of mustard

Boil the beef for about 3 hours, or use a pressure cooker to finish faster.  It needs to be very tender.  Boil the potatoes and carrots.  Let everything cool and start dicing everything.  They should all be small pieces about 1/2 cm by 1/2 cm.  Make sure you drain all the juice from the diced pickles.  Mix everything together in a big bowl, and add the mayo and mustard, you can add salt and pepper to taste if you wish.  You will end up with a big bowl of salad, traditionally we smooth out the top of the salad with a knife and spread more mayonnaise and smooth that out.  Cover with plastic wrap and you can refrigerate it for weeks.  Serve salad cold, do not warm it up.  

For more salad ideas try this book Simply Salads: More than 100 Delicious Creative Recipes Made from Prepackaged Greens and a Few Easy-to-Find Ingredients.