Salad Olivieh.

Today during my physical therapy session I was speaking with Cyrus, one of the guys helping me get back on my feet. Looking at his name tag, I asked if he were Armenian. He replied in the negative. "I'm Persian." I brightened. I love the Little Tehran quartier in my arrondissement, in rue des Entrepreneurs. Cyrus knows those restaurants and grocery stores well. I told him my favorite dish was the Salad Olivieh. Cyrus told me there's a similar Russian version, but the Olivieh (or Olivier) in the name has nothing to do with olive farmers. There are no olives in the recipe. A Belgian-French chef came up with the concoction. His name was Olivier!

I adapted this recipe from a post on Shirin's Persian cooking blog The Saffron Life.

3 medium sized potatoes, peeled
3 eggs
4 Persian pickles or 8 cornichons
1 full chicken breast (a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken works well here and saves time)
Salt
White pepper
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup or more Mayonnaise (white, not Dijon)
Frozen green peas (no need to cook them if you have a half hour for them to defrost)

1. Wash the potatoes and eggs and place them in a pot
2. Cover full with water and bring all to boil on low heat (potato takes longer to come to boil, but let them all continue boiling)
3. Remove any skin off the chicken breast
4. Peel and chop the potatoes, eggs, pickles and chicken
5. Mix together in a bowl
6. Add salt & pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil (little by little and taste, your own choice on how much)
7. Add mayo slowly. Again, up to you on how much you want
8. Taste to see if it needs anything more based on your own liking, then arrange in a mound on a platter
9. To serve, you can spread a layer of Mayo on top and design with green peas (this is up to you)

Nusheh jân!