Turkish Chopped Salad

By Gigirox

Ingredients

• Dressing Ingredients
• a large handful of parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sumac (optional; it will still taste great if you don’t have this somewhat unusual spice on hand)
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste
• Salad Ingredients
• 2 cucumbers, peeled
• 2 green peppers, cored
• 3 tomatoes, cored
• 1/2 medium red onion
• 1 bunch radishes, tops removed
• 1 can black olives

Preparation

Step 1

1. Make the dressing. Chop the parsley and place in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, and sumac. Whisk until blended, then slowly drizzle in the oil, stirring the whole time. Season with salt and pepper, taste, then adjust seasonings.
2. Prep the vegetables. Dice all the vegetables into roughly the same size – a 1/4-inch dice works well – and toss them into a large mixing bowl. It’s a rainbow! Think about how good it will taste going into your mouth –and then all those kickass vitamins and minerals and fiber making their way into your body. Slice the olives and add to the bowl. If you’re not going to eat it right away, stop here.
3. Toss it! Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until the vegetables are coated. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.
4. Share with friends. It’s easy to make this in big batches, so you can share… it’s also a quick snack that you can eat like a veggie monster when you’re super hungry and scrounging around the kitchen for something delicious and healthy.
Express yourself!
There are lots of variations on this general theme:
Dice everything really tiny and use it as salsa… on French cut green beans or a lean grilled steak
Add 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard to the dressing… leave out the olives, cumin, paprika, oregano, and sumac, replace with 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
Make it Italian… leave out the cumin, paprika, oregano, and sumac. Replace the lemon juice with balsamic vinegar, and add 4-5 chopped basil leaves to the parsley in the dressing.