• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

At the Immigrant's Table

  • Home
  • About me
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Inspiration
  • Shop
    • Middle Eastern Small Plates E-book
  • Travel
  • Tutorials
  • Jewish Recipes
  • Russian Recipes
  • Main Course Recipes
  • Healthy Side Dishes
  • Dessert Recipes
  • Travel
  • Gluten-free Recipes
  • Paleo recipes
  • Vegan recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Cookbook
  • Travel
  • Work With Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Recipes
    • Cookbook
    • Travel
    • Work With Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Fall Recipes

    Published: May 9, 2014 · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Pickled beet and cucumber salad with a horseradish-yogurt sauce, or letting illness take over {GF}

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Blog47_Img11

    During the first semester of my fourth and final year of university, I became violently ill. My head was pounding, producing a cacophony of sounds and colours. My throat was burning, each breath and swallow sending daggers down the inflamed walls of my esophagus, causing me to bend over in fits of coughing so severe, they left a film of phlegm on my palms. My nose was intermittently both runny and plugged, a constant strain on my sinuses and synapses. But above all, I just felt tired, the sort of fatigue that cuts down to your bones and fills your brain with a fog of cotton. I slept for hours on end, never quite feeling rested.

    Blog47_Img1
    Blog47_Img2

    This cold lasted into my exams, and ate up a part of my winter holiday. Nonetheless, I had no time off I could take, no empty days full of bed and pillows and sweet medication. In truth, I suppose I had those days, but I didn't allow myself the luxury to fully embrace them. Instead, I stole naps between deadlines, drank NeoCitran from morning to night, and pretended I was fine. My attempt to fight down my extended sickness was itself a constant drain on the system, and a reminder of how bogged down in tasks I had become.

    Blog47_Img3
    Blog47_Img8

    During my Master's degree, I came down with a similar bout of sickness. It followed at the heels of an intense experience of heartbreak and weeks of non-stop work at school and outside, and it came at me with a vengeance. I missed a week of classes, lost a library book, and proceeded to lose 10 pounds in water weight through sweat and nausea. My grandmother fretted, making me cups of scalding-hot tea, and forcing me to stuff garlic into my nostrils to help me breathe. This time, I slept and stayed home, allowing myself to feel ill. I was miserable, but I found a perverse pleasure in it. This time, I had a reason to feel bad about things.

    Blog47_Img4
    Blog47_Img5

    Now, I find myself in a similar situation once again. With a trip to Israel coming up next week, the first chance to see my family and friends in a year and a half, I am feeling the tell-tale signs of the cold approaching. As my days are spent at work and my nights are divided between packing, cleaning, cooking through the perishables in my fridge, and draining volunteer activities, I am losing track of what's ahead. I am starting to doubt my choices as I'm drinking probiotics and taking vitamin C in attempt to stave off the sickness. Wouldn't it be better to just give up and let myself be sick, let this cold take over, drain me, but leave me renewed before the trip? But if I did that, who would finish everything that's on my plate, who would do my work, proof a magazine, cook our food, pack my suitcase, and write, write, write?

    Blog47_Img6

    I fret, feeling guilty, getting up to chop a salad at 9 p.m., following a 12-hour day of work and French classes. As I stand at the door of the fridge, looking over its depleting contents, my mind is still racing, making a list of everything that's still left to do today. Bending over the cutting board, my hands are moving quickly, methodically, the knife reducing the cucumber to small pieces, while my brain continues to wander. I look at the ingredients I have for a salad: cucumbers, a jar of pickled beets, a spoon of prepared horseradish, a cup of yogurt. As my fridge empties out, creativity kicks in. I put things together without thinking about them, my head is elsewhere. But the salad is getting made.

    Blog47_Img7

    When my bowl of pickled beet and cucumber salad is ready, I sit down on the couch. The kitchen is left as it is for now, open jars and dirty knives littering the stained countertop. I start an episode of How I Met Your Mother, the laughter soundtrack filling the emptiness of the apartment. My cat curls in my lap, burying his head in my stomach. I take a forkful to my mouth, absent-mindedly bite on the crisp vegetables enveloped in a tangy sauce. I swallow, and an involuntary moan escapes my throat. I look down at the bowl, surprised at the combination of flavours my exhausted mind and barren fridge have produced. Then I take another forkful. And another.

    Blog47_Img12

    Forgotten, the show plays on while I devour my pickled beet and cucumber salad, letting the sharp flavours of the onion and pickled beets fill my mouth, the creaminess of the yogurt cool my throat. By the time that I am done, my bowl licked clean, the episode is half over, and I am forced to rewind the show to the beginning. Contented, I hug my cat a little closer, pulling a blanket over both of us, sitting down to a half hour of guilty television without the guilt. I let the kitchen stay dirty for a bit longer, maybe until G comes home.

    Blog47_Img9

    When I think of who will do my work for me when I cannot, I realize that no one would - or at least, not in the same way. But I'm starting to think that sometimes, that's OK. I know there's joy in quieting down the guilt and letting yourself become lost in the chaos; I guess I just have to remember that more often.

    See the Step-by-Step Web Story!

    To get the step-by-step instructions on how to make this delicious Russian pickled beet and cucumber salad, check out our pickled beed and cucumber salad story.

    Blog47_Img10
    Pickled beet and cucumber salad

    Pickled beet and cucumber salad with a horseradish yogurt sauce

    Ksenia Prints
    Crisp cucumber and sharp pickled beets are enveloped in a tangy yogurt sauce and sprinkled with fresh dill.
    4.12 from 9 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved Recipe!
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Total Time 15 mins
    Course Salad
    Cuisine Russian
    Servings 2

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 large cucumber
    • ¼ red onion
    • 1 cup pickled beets
    • 2 Tb lactose-free yogurt
    • 1 Tb brine from pickled beets
    • 2 tsps red wine vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish preferably beet horseradish
    • 1 Tb olive oil
    • A dash of salt or more, to taste
    • A sprinkle of pepper or more, to taste
    • A handfull of dill optional

    Instructions
     

    • Chop cucumbers, beets and onions evenly.
    • Mix all other ingredients except dill in a jar, and shake until combined.
    • Dress vegetables with sauce, stirring gently to meld all the flavours. Sprinkle with dill weed and serve.
    • This salad can be made ahead and allowed to rest in the fridge for a day or two.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    More Candida-friendly Recipes

    • The easiest healthy air fryer plantain chips recipe
    • 3 Ways to Cook The Best Marinated Tofu Recipe - Baked Tofu, Air Fryer Tofu and Pan Fried Tofu Recipes {Vegan, Gluten Free}
    • Plantain latkes with lime crema sauce {gluten free, AIP friendly)
    • Indian-style Okra curry recipe {Bhindi Masala Gravy}

    Join me At the Immigrant's Table

    Receive updates, exclusive recipes and helpful tips by email

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Mom says

      May 09, 2014 at 8:58 am

      When I read your notes, all district around me go out! Because I like it, so math )

      Reply
      • kseniaprints says

        May 11, 2014 at 10:27 am

        Mamulya, ya ne ponyala..... Chto ti xotela skazat'?....

        Reply
    2. Pavle says

      May 12, 2014 at 10:32 am

      Tried. Nice salad --good for health. Why not add garlic? Also keep away vampire. Other observations: not easy to find good beets. Boil them. Also firmer. You like spicy? More horseradish and less yogurt. That is party version. Also possible: apple vinegar.

      Reply
      • kseniaprints says

        May 12, 2014 at 10:36 am

        I am always in favour of more horseradish. And would you believe that I was out of garlic while making this?? Sad days. But will definitely try with garlic and more horseradish when visiting home. I have a feeling my Russian family will really like this salad with your suggestions.

        Reply
    3. Lyn says

      November 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm

      Just found your blog...I've already pinned a half dozen recipes. I'm second generation American (4 grandparents originally from Russia), worked on a kibbutz in Israel 1967, 1 week after 6 day war, (at age 17...I'm a grandma now.), lived in Jerusalem when I was 22, visited Israel some 6-7 times, my daughter-in-law immigrated to USA when she was 10..the list goes on. Question??? Traditionally, have entire family here for Thanksgiving...love to incorporate a Russian dish....Do you think this would be a hit? If not, any other suggestions for a killer Russian salad???

      Reply
      • kseniaprints says

        November 12, 2015 at 2:19 pm

        Hello, Lyn. What a pleasure it is to meet you. I am so intrigued by your story - which kibbutz were you at? It must have been such a fascinating time to be in the country! Thank you so much for sharing it with me, and for visiting and enjoying this space.
        As for Russian dishes for Thanksgiving, I have SO MANY ideas. This salad is nice, but it might be too simple, no? For classical Russian, I would go with my grandmother's vinaigrette, or this marinated beet salad (which we serve at every Jewish holiday).
        For something more festive, I love this version of Koreiskaya Morkovka (Korean carrot salad, which is actually Russian), or this pickled cabbage and mushroom salad - it's so, SO GOOD.
        Let me know what you end up choosing!

        Reply
    4. Lyn says

      November 12, 2015 at 8:04 pm

      Such a hard time choosing? All sound delicious! I think I'll try your grandmother's vinaigrette AND cabbage & pickled mushroom salad. (I'm also thinking of your marinated peppers as well.....)...Call me crazy, but all would be an asset to my Thanksgiving table...Leftovers, may be enjoyed all weekend. So Question??? I'm having 15 guests (including 3 kids ages 2-6)..should I double all these recipes? I'm serving Turkey, gravy, Mac & Cheese, & stuffing plus cranberry sauce.

      How many days in advance may I prepare these salads? How long would each last?

      Sorry for all the questions....BTW, my kibbutz was Bet Keshet...located between Tiberius and Afula.

      Thanks for all your advise....

      Reply
      • kseniaprints says

        November 13, 2015 at 7:18 am

        OK, here's what I would do. I think they're all easy and can be made ahead, which is nice - in fact, the pickling takes at least half a day for the purple cabbage salad (I would start that two-three days in advance, and just keep everything separate. Taste your mushrooms as you go, and if you feel like their flavour intensified enough, pour our their liquid - though I never mind the flavour of pickling).
        The vinaigrette salad can keep for five days, so no worries there at all - it's all root vegetables. Just taste it before you serve and make sure it's still juicy and has enough dressing, and if no, add a bit more.
        If you do make the roasted marinated peppers, those are perfectly happy with 2-3 days in the fridge as well, and we've eaten the salad for a week. Same drill, taste before serving and see if more oil or balsamic is needed (shouldn't be the case, but never hurts to warn!).
        Sounds like you're going to have a lovely Thanksgiving!!!

        Reply
    5. veronica says

      February 03, 2021 at 8:33 pm

      5 stars
      Fantastic, we are lucky to have you. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!

      Reply
      • kseniaprints says

        February 04, 2021 at 11:17 am

        Thanks!

        Reply
    6. Jean says

      February 18, 2022 at 11:16 am

      4 stars
      Very good healthy salad! I love pickled beets (pickled anything, really).
      I’m actually eating some for breakfast. Made it a few days ago and added tarragon instead of dill as I was out of dill.
      I love that you were able to assemble this from the remnants in the refrigerator. I admire that - no waste!

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    peeling squash on cutting board

    Privet, I am Ksenia Prints! A food and travel blogger, photographer and storyteller. I help adventurous home cooks explore the world through healthy, beautiful immigrant recipes.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • How to Make the Ultimate Middle Eastern appetizer platter with our best mezze recipes {V, GF, Paleo}
    • How to make easy gluten free samosas with a sweet & spicy chickpea filling
    • Authentic Argentinian vegetarian empanadas - 3 Ways! {Vegan Empanadas Option}
    • The best eggplant shakshuka, or how to make friends with breakfast

    On the social side

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About me
    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Media Kit
    • FAQ

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Ksenia Prints At the Immigrant's Table. All rights reserved