6 to 8 people as a side
The components which make this salad standout is the zesty dressing of the sumac, pomegranate molasses and the very best extra virgin olive oil. Accompanied by perfectly fried Arabic bread, this salad is delicious, moreish and will impress your guests. Even though I have provided precise measurements, the beauty of this recipe is that you can use almost any salad ingredients. Here I have chosen the most commonly used ingredients and have decided to toast the bread for my health-conscious guests.
Ingredients
- 1 Baby Cos lettuce (approx. 250g)
- 1/4 Iceberg lettuce (approx. 200g)
- 1 Red Capsicum (approx. 110g)
- 250g of Roma tomato (or other is fine)
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers (approx. 250g)
- 60g of Radish bulbs cut into round slices
- 75g of Spring onion (3 or 4 pieces)
- 40g of Parsley (small bunch)
- 15g of Fresh mint leaves
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 60 ml olive oil
- 60 ml of lemon juice
- Makes 1/2 cup of dressing
- The dressing measurements is the way I like it , you are welcome to adjust it to suit your taste.
- Light drizzle of pomegranate molasses on the top before serving, not too much as this has a strong flavour (not more than a tablespoon)
Garnish / Crunchy Bread
- 2 Lebanese bread rounds (split in half to make 4 pieces)
- 1 cup of vegetable oil to shallow fry
or
- Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees celsius to toast bread until golden.
Method
Salad
- Start by washing all of the salad ingredients and place them on kitchen towels to dry before chopping
- Drain the lettuces, mint and parsley well
- Pat dry the tomato, cucumber, spring onion, capsicum and radish
- Shred the lettuce into medium thickness, not too thin and not too thick
- Chop the tomato, cucumber and capsicum into little bite size pieces
- Slice the radishes into thin round pieces
- Finely chop the parsley, mint and spring onion
Dressing
- In a small bowl gently mix the sumac, salt, olive oil and lemon juice, and pour 3/4 over the salad. Reserve a quarter. The reason being some people like a heavy dressing and others like it light.
- Toss the salad until it is evenly dressed, and add the remainder if you wish.
- drizzle a very little amount of pomegranate molasses over the top of your salad, not too much otherwise your salad will be too tangy
- You just want a hint of the molasses to compliment the dressing
Garnish / Crunchy Bread
- Fry your bread rounds on the stove top or toast them in the oven, whichever you prefer
- Break them up into bite size pieces and place in a small bowl until the salad is ready to be served
- The crunchy bread can either be placed in a separate bowl for people to add themselves or it can be scattered on the top of the salad
Tips
- Please don’t feel like you are limited to the ingredients listed above, the possibilities are endless. You can also use: purslane, yellow or green capsicum, different coloured tomato or salad onion.
- This salad is best dressed immediately before serving
- I prefer to keep the bread in a separate bowl as I find it goes soggy after sitting on the salad for some time.
- This salad can be prepared a day in advance, and dressed when required
- For added texture and flavour you can add fresh pomegranate seeds
