Turkish zucchini, feta, dill and walnut salad

This is a modern rendition of a traditional salad called Cevizli Kaba, a cooling salad featuring creamy yoghurt, walnuts, feta, and zucchini. In this version, the chefs grill the zucchini and peppers to bring out the flavours and drizzle the yoghurt on top for a beautiful presentation. This salad is a lot of fun to make and eat. The charred zucchini contrasts with the creamy yoghurt, the walnuts add a nutty flavour and texture, and the hileys a pop of spice. It comes together beautifully on your palate. This is one of those cooked salads that works well in the summer, thanks to the light zucchini and yoghurt. This is a fantastic cookbook by a British chef who specialises in cuisines from the Middle East and Turkey. It is filled with recipes for kebabs, stews, other Turkish favourites, and some more contemporary dishes. Everything I have cooked from this book has been fantastic; it is one of my favourite Turkish cookbooks.

For more wonderful recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb baby zucchini

2 red or green chiles

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil spray

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice from 1/2 to 1 lemon or lime

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Handful of dill, roughly torn

Salt and pepper to taste

Thinly slice (3mm) the zucchini using a mandolin, or cut by hand as thin as possible. Layer on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with pepper and salt, and spray with oil. Broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes till they start to turn brown in spots. Alternatively, you can grill the zucchini slices or pan-fry them to cook them slightly.

Halve the chillies, remove seeds and ribs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spray with oil. Broil, grill or sauté the chillies till soft. When cooled, slice on the diagonal. You can do these with the zucchini, but the cooking times will vary. When grilled, you can peel off the skins if desired and slice into thin ribbons.

Mix the yoghurt with the lemon or lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Taste the sauce, it should be bright, tangy and pop with flavour.

To serve, layer the zucchini in a flat bowl. Sprinkle the peppers evenly, and drizzle with the yoghurt sauce. Sprinkle the dill, walnuts and feta crumbles. Serve immediately, accompanied by pita (optional) if desired.