Russian salad (1)

250 g of potatoes, 200 g of green beans, 200 g 200 g 200 g of carrots, peas, beets, lemon juice, soy mayonnaise, pineapple (optional), some lettuce leaves (optional)

It is perhaps the most famous among the salads. Commonly used ingredients are potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots and beets, all seasoned with soy mayonnaise. Some also add diced pineapple.
You can cook the vegetables in the microwave, allow to cool properly and then cut them, or proceed with the traditional method (the one that we give you below).
Wash and Peel 2 medium sized potatoes (about 250 g), cut into small cubes and cook them gently in a finger of steam or lightly salted water. It is important that the potatoes don't Cook too much, otherwise you break. If the boil before cutting, it will be much harder to cut small cubes with sharp corners. The same thing happens with the green beans, so clean about 200 GRS., cut into small pieces rather small and let them boil for a few minutes in a finger of water (you can also use the cooking water of potatoes, once you have removed).
Carrots are easier to cut into cubes of the same size of the potatoes when they are already been boiled, so cook them whole in a small amount of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, let cool, Peel and cut into cubes. Separately boil 200 gr. already shelled peas (if they are fresh will take 15 minutes of cooking, if they're frozen, it only takes 5 minutes).
Beets should be cut into cubes; are sold already cooked baked or steamed--raw ones are not red and they're pretty tough. After skinned and cut into cubes 200 gr. beets, place them in a bowl covered with water acidulated with 2 tablespoons lemon juice to lose some color. When all vegetables are "reduced to lowest terms," mix together and season with soy mayonnaise. Serve cold, preferably on lettuce leaves.