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Cone salad with almonds

"Pine Cone" Salad with Almonds

A delicious layered salad shaped like pine cones. It's a real showpiece for the holiday table — hearty on its own, with well-matched ingredients, and the almond "scales" and cone shape give it a festive, wintry look.

Anna

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Smoked chicken

300

Potatoes (boiled)

Eggs (boiled)

Pickles

Hard cheese

100

Mayonnaise

100

Almonds

200

Dill

Fresh rosemary

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 30 % 9 g

Fats 47 % 14 g

Carbohydrates 23 % 7 g

177 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make a "Pine Cone" salad with almonds? Gather your ingredients. The chicken should be smoked, but you can use boiled if you don't have it. Boil the potatoes in their skins beforehand, and hard-boil the eggs and cool them. Use any mild-tasting cheese. For the dressing you can use mayonnaise, or a mix of mayonnaise and sour cream. The almonds should be toasted. Have a nice serving platter ready.
Step 2:

My potatoes are boiled in their skins, but you can use peeled boiled ones. Peel the boiled potatoes and grate them on a coarse grater. Add about 1–2 tablespoons of mayonnaise and mix; if the potatoes weren't salted, salt them now. I'm shaping the salad into two cones, but you can make one or even three. Arrange the potato on the platter in two ovals shaped like cones.
Step 3:

I use a smoked chicken leg quarter — debone it. Cut the meat into small cubes, add a spoonful of mayonnaise, and mix. Spread the smoked chicken as the second layer, keeping to the cone shape.
Step 4:

Cut the brined or pickled cucumbers into small cubes, add a spoonful of mayonnaise, and add them as the third layer.
Step 5:

Peel the boiled eggs and grate them on a coarse grater. Mix the eggs with mayonnaise and add them as the next layer.
Step 6:

Grate the cheese. I used a coarse grater, which made it hard to set the almonds, so a medium or fine grater is better. Mix the grated cheese with mayonnaise (use a bit more here) and add it as the next layer. Coat the whole salad with mayonnaise so the layers don't show.
Step 7:

The almonds should be toasted; if they're raw, toast them in a dry skillet. Arrange the nuts over the salad, pressing them slightly into the top layer so they hold. You can sink them in fully, or set them so they stick out like the scales of an open pine cone.
Step 8:

Chill the finished salad before serving. When you plate it, wipe the platter clean so there are no smears. Decorate the cones with sprigs of rosemary or dill (or both) to look like pine needles.

It's even better to make the mayonnaise yourself — tastier and healthier. See here for some good homemade mayonnaise recipes. You can also use sour cream or plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise, on their own or mixed with mayo in any ratio you like, to lighten up the dish.
How do you hard-boil eggs without cracking them? Start them in cold water and bring them up to a boil over low heat. Boil for 9 minutes after the water comes to a boil, then transfer to cold water to cool — the sudden temperature change makes them easier to peel.