Mad Fact

Ivan the Terrible became Grand Prince of Moscow at the age of 3 but spent most of his childhood imprisoned in a dungeon while his mother ruled.

Green Fact

Beets are a wonderful tonic for the liver and work as a purifier for the blood.

Crazy Ivan

Chef's Inspiration

The Crazy Ivan is an earthy salad with rich, dark flavors that plays off the classic pairing of beets and goat cheese. We use molasses in the vinaigrette for a deep, caramelized flavor that complements the tangy cheese. And we've embraced texture with pumpkin seeds and crunchy croutons that we cut and season ourselves each morning.

MAD Story

As the “Tsar Of All The Russians”, Ivan IV Vasilyevich had a bit of an ego, and he hated that Julius Caesar had his own salad. Ivan challenged chefs around the world to develop the BEST salad recipe so it could be named after Ivan. Every day a new chef visited the Kremlin to present their recipe…And every day, Ivan spat out the salads, screaming “THIS ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH!” (The unfortunate chefs were banished to Siberia and were never heard from again.) Utilizing his test kitchen time machine, Maddy G. Reens paid a visit to Tsar Vasilyevich with a new recipe never before tasted by the public. Maddy concocted a crazy blend of roasted beets, goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, citrus grilled chicken, homemade croutons and sherry molasses vinaigrette. Ivan loved it and proclaimed the Crazy Ivan the national salad of the Russia. Lucky for the world, Maddy wasn’t banished to Siberia so as soon as he stumbled back to his time machine after imbibing at the Kremlin’s exclusive Vodka bar, he continued creating his amazing Crazy Ivan.