**Recipe featured on Cooking Channel website – Finalist for Perfect 5 Recipe Contest.**
Considering the theme of The Lemon Bowl, it is probably no surprise that my favorite and most common salad contains all of my favorite ingredients: lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. This is, of course, the basis of a Syrian (or Lebanese) salad.
I grew up shadowing my Great Aunt Vieve as she would prepare this delicious, fresh and addictive salad. Dressing the salad directly on the greens, I sat in awe as she seasoned, tasted and adjusted. No measuring, no teaspoons, just instinct. Utensils were no where in sight. Instead, she would simply use her hands (your greatest tool in the kitchen) to gently toss the salad, being careful not to bruise the lettuce and herbs.
Although I have no proof, I am a firm believer that my Great Aunt Vieve lived a long and healthy life due to the daily consumption of raw garlic. (Cooked whole garlic has very little, if any, medicinal benefits.) Not to brag, but I may or may not have written a research paper about the health benefits of garlic for my International Cuisine elective at Boston University. Shocker.
A typical Syrian salad is very simple: romaine, cucumber and tomato. My husband doesn’t eat cucumbers or tomatoes so our typical salad will also include red peppers and radishes. This week at the Farmer’s Market I bought the white, spicy radishes but you could add anything you wish – carrots, celery, yellow peppers, red leaf, you name it. Heck, this dressing would be delicious on roasted cauliflower. Whatever you do, don’t forget the raw garlic.- 6 c romaine - chopped
- 1 large tomato - chopped
- 4 white radishes - thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper - diced
- 1 peeled cucumber - chopped
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- ¼ cup chopped mint or 2 tablespoons dried mint
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 garlic cloves - grated/crushed
- 4 tsp olive oil
- 2 tablespoons za'atar (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place your salad ingredients of choice in a large bowl.
- Add fresh herbs.
- Squeeze juice of one lemon around the bowl, carefully holding your opposite hand underneath to catch the seeds.
- Grate garlic directly over the salad using a microplane.
- Drizzle olive oil around the edge of the salad (this will help ensure the salad is dressed evenly as you toss.)
- Using, hands, gently toss the salad together. Sprinkle with zaatar, salt and pepper to taste.
I can not wait to get my hands on some za’atar! I love raw garlic on my salads with lemon & olive oil just like this!! So fresh & perfect!!