Salad Shirazi
Serves 4
Cool, bright, and crunchy, this Persian salad is typical of the Iranian table and goes very well with grilled meats and spicy main dishes.
I like to include a bell pepper, which as far as I know isn’t traditional at all. The basic idea is roughly equal amounts of the each vegetable, a small handful of fresh mint, and a light dressing of lemon or lime juice and olive oil. The vegetables should all be cut into the same small (¼") dice.
Ingredients #
- 4 small Persian cucumbers (or 1 English), diced
- 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- ½ of a medium red onion, diced, soaked briefly in cold water, and drained
- 4 red radishes, trimmed and diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 small handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped, or 2 tsp dried mint
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions #
Combine all of the diced vegetables and the chopped mint.
In a small bowl, mix the lemon/lime juice, olive oil, a big pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Pour over the salad and toss to evenly distribute everything.
This probably tastes best if served immediately, but I love to chill it for 30 minutes or so, and it will still be tasty if held overnight.