Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cucumber, Za’atar and Chopped Lemon Salad
A crisp, refreshing, and brightly flavoured side, this easy salad makes a perfect accompaniment to almost any dish.
From the book
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR
A guide to unlocking the complex flavour in simple vegetables
With a focus on creative cooking processes and clever ingredient pairing
Including recipes for everything from midweek meals to weekend feasts
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Introduction
This salad makes a seriously crisp and refreshing impact, thanks to all the lemon that goes into it: juice, flesh and skin. It will sit happily alongside virtually any dish in the book. The za’atar gives it a little extra edge, but leave it out if there’s already a lot going on in any other dishes you’re making.
Ingredients
| 3 | lemons |
| 4½ tbsp | olive oil |
| 1¼ tsp | dried mint |
| 1½ tsp | za’atar |
| 1 | banana shallot, halved lengthways and finely sliced (40g) |
| 1½ | green chillies, finely sliced into strips (deseeded for less heat) |
| 1 | large cucumber, halved lengthways, watery centre scooped out, cut at an angle into ½cm-thick slices (450g) |
| 60g | lamb’s lettuce |
| 10g | dill, roughly chopped |
| 10g | basil leaves |
| 5g | mint leaves |
| salt |
Method
Squeeze 1–2 lemons to get 2½ tablespoons of juice and put it into a large serving bowl. Cut seven thin slices from the remaining lemon, saving any extra for another recipe. Discard any pips, then pile the slices on top of each other. Remove and discard half the rind, then finely chop the slices, including the remaining rind, and add to the bowl along with the oil, dried mint, za’atar, shallots, green chillies, cucumber and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well, then add the lamb’s lettuce and all the herbs, toss gently and serve at once.
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