Shepherd's Salad

Turkish shepherd’s salad with finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onion, parsley and a sharp lemon-olive oil dressing.

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Çoban salatası is an everyday Turkish table salad. Finely chopping the vegetables helps the juices mix with the dressing and makes every spoonful balanced.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe tomatoes (finely diced)
• 1 cucumber (finely diced)
• 2 green peppers (finely diced)
• 0.5 red onion (finely diced)
• 25 g fresh parsley (finely chopped)
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 0.5 tsp sumac (optional)
• 0.75 tsp fine salt (or to taste)
• 0.25 tsp black pepper

Step-by-step method

1. Dice the tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and red onion into small, similar-size pieces so the salad eats evenly.
2. Place the tomatoes in a bowl first and sprinkle with a little of the salt. Leave for 3–4 minutes so they release some juice.
3. Add the cucumber, peppers, onion and parsley.
4. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses if using, sumac, remaining salt and black pepper.
5. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss gently but thoroughly.
6. Taste and adjust with more lemon, salt or pomegranate molasses depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes.
7. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes at room temperature before serving so the flavours blend.
8. Serve with grilled meats, kebabs, rice dishes or bread.