Hi there, Miss Marisol here from La Coruña, Spain. How are things? Last Saturday Miss Lopez and I got together in our home town of La Coruña in Galicia, Spain. We had not seen each other since last New Year’s Eve and it was great to see her again, she looks great!!!! As you know, we went to the wonderful concert of Galician Folk band DOA at the wonderful Fort of San Anton in the harbor of La Coruña. Incredible acoustic experience in a beautiful location! Check DOA online at  www.doa-music.com!

But I am not here to tell you about DOA, Miss Lopez has already told you all about them.
I am bringing you a recipe of what it is in my personal opinion the second most famous TAPA in Spain. Ensaladilla Rusa. It is said that a Russian invented the salad in the late XIX century. We don’t know what the original Russian salad was like, but we, Spaniards, have made our own version and eat it as a tapa, one of Miss Lopez´s favorite! We also eat it as a side dish, great with barbecue in the summer. Many families even prepare home-made mayonnaise to dress it, can you believe it?
To begin you will need the following ingredients (Aprox. 4 sides, 10 tapas) :
• 7 medium potatoes
• 2 roasted red peppers (bottled is fine)
• 1.16 oz can of peas and carrots, drained ( you may use cooked frozen or fresh as well)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 6 oz can tuna in olive oil
• 1 can pimento or anchovy filled green olives
• Mayonnaise – For home-made, see recipe link below.
• Optional:
• 4-5 spears white asparagus for garnish
Let’s start cooking!
Scrub the potatoes to clean off any lose dirt and sand. Pour water into a large pot, cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Place potatoes in the pot and boil them with skins on until they are cooked, but not too soft. Test the doneness by pricking with a fork to make sure they are cooked, but still firm. Don’t overcook the potatoes or when mixing the salad, you’ll end up with mashed potatoes! Drain the water from the pot and add cold water to the pot, covering the potatoes. Change every few minutes until the potatoes are cool enough to handle with your bare hands. Refrigerate for a few minutes to cool further. Remove from refrigerator and peel potatoes. Cut into small (approximately 1/2″) cubes. Return to refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients. Put approximately 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise into a bowl. Slice 1 of the roasted pepper into strips about 1/3 inch wide, then cut into smaller pieces and add to bowl. Drain tuna thoroughly, then crumble with a fork and add to bowl. Drain carrots and peas and add to bowl. Peel 1 egg, chop and add to bowl. Mix all ingredients together. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the potatoes and mix thoroughly. If necessary, add more mayonnaise. Smooth top of potato salad, preparing for decoration. Slice remaining red pepper into thin strips and arrange on top of salad. Drain the white asparagus and slice hard-boiled eggs carefully. Use both to decorate the salad as seen in the pictures.

As Miss. Lopez says, RIQUISSSSIMO!!!! Enjoy the Ensaladilla Rusa and continue to feel good Womanhood! I and Miss Lopez are already enjoying all the wonderful tapas and food Galicia has to offer! Hasta la Vista!!!