Salad-e Shirazi (Persian Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad)
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 3 to 4Persian cucumbers (about ¾ pound)
- ½red onion, diced into ¼-inch pieces
- 2tablespoons any combination of finely chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, basil or dill
- 1teaspoon dried mint
- 2 to 3medium tomatoes (about 1 pound)
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 limes), plus more as needed
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
67 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 281 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Remove alternating stripes of peel on cucumbers and trim ends. Dice cucumbers into ¼-inch pieces and place in a large bowl with onion and fresh herbs. Using your fingers to break up any large pieces, gently grind the dried mint into the bowl. Remove tomato cores, dice remaining tomatoes into ¼-inch pieces and add to bowl.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, make a vinaigrette by whisking together ¼ cup lime juice, oil, ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Just before serving, dress vegetables with vinaigrette and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lime juice as needed. This salad should be bright, crunchy and tart, a nice counterpoint for rich, buttery rice and unctuous stews. Serve at room temperature or lightly chilled. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days.
Private Notes
Comments
A convenient source of dried mint can be found in "herbal" mint tea bags.
As a cook from Shiraz, I can say confidently it's Not the original recipe, instead of lime you should use verjuice (from unripe grapes) and also green onion is preferred to red one. It dramatically can change the outcome and you probably would find it more tastey and delicate. Also please forget the olive oil.
I was just looking at this recipe in "Cooking in Iran" by Najmieh Batmanglij. She suggests either verjuice or lime juice. She also has olive oil in the recipe, but says it's optional. Verjuice is not easily sourced in the U.S. and many cooks wouldn't be able to make this if we couldn't substitute.
This salad is wonderful.
The original does call for the juice of unripe grapes (can find on Amazon) but as I don’t think I would use that much, I substituted pure cranberry juice…also sour. Turned out wonderfully. I used fresh mint - probably about 2 Tablespoons and did use a sprinkle of olive oil. Drained the tomatoes in a sieve. Delicious. (Also saw a video on FaceBook)
Loved this salad! Followed the advice of others: bought verjus in the gourmet food section of a wine and liquor store used sweet on-the-vine tomato bombs seeded the tomatoes used an English cuke used cilantro (asked guests if they hated it) dressed salad about 2 hours before serving to soak in flavors Served with chicken tajine, couscous, green beans and crusty bread. Perfect dinner party.
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