Crunchy ferments, stuffed spuds, garlicky beets: Olia Hercules’ recipes for Ukrainian winter vegetable sides

Cut through the winter blues with (clockwise from left) a zingy ferment salad, baked potatoes stuffed with mushrooms and feta, and a Ukrainian/Georgian beetroot dish with walnut-and-garlic paste. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Sam Dixon. Prop styling: Anna Wilkins.

Ferment salad

This winter salad is less a recipe than an assembly job, and includes shop-bought ferments. It’s inspired by how we traditionally serve kraut and other vegetable ferments in Ukraine in winter: with aromatic, unrefined sunflower oil and thinly sliced onions.