Russian Beet Salad

This is a salad my husband loves.  In fact, he entered this one in a international potluck competition at a gathering in Asheville several years ago, and won first place.  He says he ate this a lot in Tashkent, Uzbekistan back in the '90s.  And I know we had a variation of this on our visit to Moscow in 2007.  It's very good, and can be a great complement to other dishes.

Here's a simple recipe:

Boil and peel a few medium-sized beets
Cut them into small strips (or grate them) and put in a big bowl
Let the sliced beets chill in the fridge for at least an hour
Add mayo, a dash of salt and some fresh minced garlic
Mix together, taste, and then adjust ratio of mayo and garlic to suit your taste

If you need something more exact, here's a recipe for an easy Russian beet salad. 

Here's the write-up from the competition in 2008:

I do want to recognize the winners of the international potluck food cook-off. They were awarded fun prizes at Zambra's.  Well, those who attended claimed prizes!  Belated congratulations to the following:

Most #1 Votes
Russian Beet Salad, yours truly, 4 votes
Moroccan Lentil Soup, James 2 votes
French Crepes, Tracey, 2 votes

Most Total Votes
Russian Beet Salad, very yours truly, 8 votes
Japanese Aveline Kushi, Lesley Anna, 7 votes
Lebanese Fatoosh, Sarah, 7 votes

Just to show how interesting Asheville is, the people there (at the cook-off) were from Alabama, Long Island, Brooklyn, Canada, South Florida, North Carolina, the U.K., Chicago, Oregon, etc.,