I had a very nice Midsummer (Juhannus in Finnish) eve with lovely friends on Friday. I was a little stressed that day because of personal issues, but a day of eating, drinking and spending lovely time with friends helped me quite a bit. We all brought food to the table. A similar version of this salad was served by our lovely host, Essi. After all, one cannot think of a Midsummer in Finland without potato salad! So here today is my version.

 

 

I’ve been quiet for a while. That’s because I received some worrying news from my family and my brain was too busy with that. During the weekend, though, I received increasingly better news so I now feel a little relieved. Next Friday I’ll go to Turkey so when I see everyone with my own eyes, I’ll feel even better.

 

 

So on Midsummer eve, when I was invited to Essi & Timo’s place, I wasn’t sure if I should go or not. After long hours of thinking, I decided to go. It was the best decision! I could forget about things for a few hours, which was something I badly needed. And I ate delicious food with lovely friends!

 

When I think of Midsummer, I immediately have a potato salad in my head. In every Midsummer feast with friends, potato salad, one version or other, was brought to the table by a friend, and sometimes more than one friend at the same time! Finns love potatoes (well, so do I!).

 

 

There are many similar versions of this potato salad all over the internet. I like all of them; in my version I also added onions to the salad. I cooked the onions and made this a warm salad. One reason to add the onions cooked is also the fact that I can handle onions only when they are cooked – otherwise I get quite bad stomachache.

 

 

You can add your favourite herbs to this salad. I personally like adding fresh chives, but I didn’t have it at home when I made this version for the blog. You can also add dill if you like, or even parsley. Anything you like really. Enjoy!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: Easy
(serves 4-6)

 

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

 

1 kg new potatoes, washed but not peeled, cut in 2 or 3 pieces*
1 tbsp olive oil for potatoes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground paprika
2 dl (or 3/4 cup + 4 tsp) puy lentils, washed
1/2 dl (or 3 tbsp + 1 tsp) olive oil to cook onions and for dressing
1 large onion, diced
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp rice syrup (or any other vegan syrup you like, or honey if you like)
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
salt and pepper to taste

 

Options for serving:

herbs of your choice (chives – my favourite, dill, parsley..)

 

*You can peel if you like, of course!!

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Put a baking paper on an oven tray and put aside.

 

2. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground paprika to the potatoes and mix well. Spread the potatoes on the prepared oven tray evenly and roast in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden and cooked well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. While potatoes are in the oven, prepare the other parts of the salad. Put puy lentils in a pot. Add about 3 times amount of cold water to the lentils and cook in medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. I like having a bit of bite to the lentils still so I don’t cook them too much. You can cook according to your taste.

 

 

 

4. In a pan, add about 1 tbsp of 1/2 dl olive oil and heat on medium high heat for about 15 seconds. Add and saute the onion until well cooked.

 

 

 

 

5. For the dressing, put remaining olive oil, vinegar, syrup and mustard in a bowl and whisk well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. When potatoes, lentils and onion are ready, put them all in a bowl and mix.

 

 

7. Add dressing and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper according to your taste. Serve warm. Share and enjoy with friends – sharing is caring!!