Salads

French vegetable salad recipes and Baltic salad recipes, fresh, colorful, and mostly traditional.

Growing up, my grandmother always had several salads on the table at the same time. Red radishes in sour cream, sliced cucumber, fresh tomato, or whatever came in from the garden that day. All of it dressed simply (with lots of dill and chopped chives) and served alongside variety of open-faced sandwiches on rye or sourdough. A few small colorful bowls made the whole table look really special.

My French mother-in-law served similar salads, just in a different order. Veggie salads, like this traditional creamy cucumber salad, grated carrots with lemon dressing, or shredded cabbage salad were served first, before the main course, while a simple green salad with a simple dressing was served separately, after the main meal.

You’ll find French salad recipes and Baltic vegetable salads here, raw and dressed, and roasted vegetable salads too with more of those on the way. Great for an aukstais galds (the Latvian version of a smorgasbord, where everything comes out at once and the table does the talking), good for a potluck, or just to add some variety an veggies to a simple weekday dinner. To see how these salads fit into a bigger meal in France and the Baltic countries, check out what the Baltic table looks like and how a French meal flows.