Syrian chopped leaf salad

Syrian cuisine is in love with salads, especially the chopped variety. The numerous vegetables come together in a variety of textures and individual flavours. The dressing is very light, with lime or lemon juice and olive oil, allowing the fresh vegetables to shine.

This is a super simple salad that has beautiful flavours and is filled with textures. The salad is visually beautiful, with all the mixed colours of the vegetables, reds, greens, and oranges, giving this salad a vibrant and healthy feel and look on the table. The herbs add all the flavour, the cheese adds some creaminess and salt to the salad and lime a subtle tartness. Healthy, beautiful and flavorful is how I would describe this salad, one I loved.

Greg and Lucy Malouf have travelled across the Middle East extensively, publishing several specialized cookbooks along their journey. This cookbook specializes in Syrian cuisine with a modern flair, a thick volume filled with amazing recipes like this one and photographs. I have cooked a few, but definitely not enough, recipes from this book, and each is spectacular. I need to complete the collection of their cookbooks; oh, I wish I had a larger cookbook budget. This book is for those who are looking for spectacular Syrian cuisine.

For more delicious recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1 head lettuce, Romaine or red-head, left whole or chopped

1 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped

1 cup parsley, roughly chopped

1 small onion, finely minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 carrots diced into small cubes (optional)

3 baby cucumbers, Lebanese cucumbers if available, partially peeled and cubed into small bite-sized pieces

1 cup red radish or mooli, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces

Juice of 1 lime or lemon + to taste

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, to taste

Sliced or crumbled shanklish cheese or feta or aged goat's cheese

Toss all the vegetables in a bowl. If keeping the lettuce as whole leaves, set aside.

When ready to serve, add the lime juice, olive oil, and salt to the chopped vegetables and toss them together. If the lettuce leaves are separate, line a wide bowl with the whole leaves. Add the salad mix to the center and top with cheese. Serve.