Çoban Salatası, Turkish Shepherd's Salad
Çoban salatası, shepherd's salad, is the salad Turkey eats with nearly every meal, named for something a shepherd could throw together from a knife and a few vegetables. The version with white cheese is a different dish; this is the plain, sharp original. Everything hinges on a fine, even dice and on sumac, which brings the tartness that carries the salad without salt. Seed the tomatoes so they stay crisp rather than flooding the bowl, rinse the raw onion to soften its edge, and give it ten minutes to marry before serving.
Ingredients
- 3 wholes Fresh tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
- 1 whole Cucumber, finely diced
- 1 whole Bell peppers, green, finely diced
- 1/2 whole Red onions, finely diced
- 3/4 cup Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp Sumac
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dried mint
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper, salt-free
Method
- Cut the tomato, cucumber, pepper, and onion to a uniform small dice, roughly a quarter inch (0.5 cm). The salad is about getting all four vegetables in one spoonful, so the cutting is the whole technique.
- Soak the diced red onion in cold water for a few minutes, then drain. This washes out the harsh sulfur bite that salt would normally tame, leaving the onion sweet and crisp.
- Toss the vegetables with the parsley in a wide bowl.
- Dress with lemon juice, sumac, dried mint, and Aleppo pepper. Sumac is the key move, a tart purple powder that lands like lemon zest and makes salt feel unnecessary. Use salt-free Aleppo, since it is often sold pre-salted.
- Let the salad rest 10 minutes before serving. The tomatoes weep their juice into the lemon and sumac and make the dressing themselves.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 70 calories, 3 g protein, 4 g fiber, 25 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
