Dish of Shepherd's Salad
(click to enlarge)

Shepherd's Salad


Turkey   -   Çoban Salatasi
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 5 salad
**
1 hr
Yes		 This is the most popular salad in Turkey, served everywhere salad is served. It'a a delicious combination that can be made hours ahead, up to dressing.

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1
4
4
1
3
6
1/3
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2
2
1/4
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#
oz
oz
t
oz

c
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T
T
t
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-- Salad
Tomatoes
Cucumbers (2)
Onion
Salt
Armenian Pepper (3)  
Mint sprigs
Parsley, flat
-- Dressing
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil ExtV
Salt
-- Garnish
Olives, Black (4)

This salad is durable on the buffet table because there are no greens likely to wilt.

Salad   -   (25 min + 30 min chill time)
  1. Scald TOMATOES 1 minute in boiling water, quench in cold water, peel and and dice about 3/8 inch (see Note-1).
  2. Cut CUCUMBERS into strips, then into dice similar in size to the tomatoes.(see Note-2).
  3. Quarter ONION lengthwise, then slice thin crosswise. Put slices in a bowl, sprinkle 1 t salt over and rub it in. Let sit for a few minutes, then rinsed well and squeeze out excess water.
  4. Chop CHILI fine.
  5. Pull MINT leaves from stems and chop them small. Do the same for PARSLEY.
  6. Mix together all Salad items. Refrigerate until ready to serve
Dressing   -   (4 min)
  1. Mix all Dressing items items in a small jar so they can be shaken vigorously before pouring. Cool.
Garnish & Serve   -   (5 min)
  1. Pit the OLIVES and cut in half lengthwise.
  2. Dress salad and serve chilled, garnished with pitted Olives. For buffet service the Olives can just be mixed in
NOTES:

  1. Tomatoes:

      Not all Turkish recipes in my posession peel the tomatoes, and I certainly doubt shepherds did, so consider this an optional refinement.

  2. Cucumbers:

      Persian or similar cucumbers which need neither peeling nor seeding are preferable, but if all you have is regular waxed blimp cukes, peel them, cut in half lengthwise, and seed them. Cut into strips, then dice. You'll need a couple ounces more to compensate for the peels and seeds.

  3. Armenian Pepper:

      Since I live across the street from the Western Capital of Armenia (Glendale, CA), it is diplomatic to call these "Armenian" rather "Turkish" (they don't get along). Non-hot green Hungarian peppers are pretty much the same thing. For details see our Chilis page.

  4. Olives:

      These should be Mediterranean oil cured olives, not California salad olives. Turkish black olives are readily available in vacuum packs and are excellent.
  5. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch

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