Turkish Shepherd’s Salad

Another lovely variation of what was called shopska salata without the hot peppers or olives when I lived in Bulgaria and what is served in almost every Greek restaurant as Greek village salad usually with pepperocini. I prefer balsamic vinegar and never any heat for me. I could eat it endlessly!

Why soak the red onion?

Such a fresh and delicious salad to use with all this wonderful summertime produce! I did not have Aleppo so I had to omit it, but it did not take away from the dish!

This was a perfect hot summer night meal. I prefer it with toasted pita. My husband prefers it with Romaine Also added chickpeas and served along with spicy tzatziki (tyrokafteri) Oh- also added some roasted & seasoned mushrooms on top. Perfect hot night/summer meal.

I’m low-key obsessed with this salad all summer when the tomatoes are at their best. I go heavy on all the herbs (dill, mint and parsley for me), lemon and spices. I usually use a couple of Anaheim peppers because I’ve yet to see Italian frying peppers in any store or farmers’ market in either city I live. Discovered that I was out of sumac the first time I made it this summer and I’m here to tell you, order some from Amazon if your local markets don’t have it. It adds a certain something.

Used zaatar and harissa powder bc couldn’t find sumac

I used a poblano pepper. Very good salad!

Italian frying peppers are cubanelles no sumac so substituted lemon peel and salt add a can of garbanzo beans for protein added 2 oz kalamata olives, halved

Best sumac comes from Penzey’s. You can order online if you don’t have one locally. I always include chic peas. I make a batch leaving out tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce. It keeps in my fridge several days. Then add tomatoes lettuce and cheese to each serving. If Trader Joes ever brings back its orange champagne vinegar I use that instead of lemon juice as my body dies not like lemon. This is easy to customize. I use read or yellow peppers as opposed to green.

I've made this and similar salads (fattoush, "Israeli salad") many times, and they remain among my favorites. Don't make the mistake of taking the provided time literally: Times house style for recipes seems to be to record the recipe time starting at the beginning of step one. This salad needs about 15-30 minutes of washing, spin drying and chopping parsley, dill and mint, along with washing & chopping all the other vegetables and getting other ingredients measured out and ready first.

Lived in Turkey for years, and ate many a version of çoban salatasi. For those having trouble with substitutions, the core ingredients are tomatoes, cucumber (usually peeled), red onion, parsley, sumac, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. You can add kirmizi biber (Turkish red pepper), but paprika can work, too. Never had it with green pepper, only sometimes with mint, rarely dill. The keys are to chop the veggies fine, use a lot of parsley, and don't skimp on good-quality olive oil. Afiyet olsun!

Fresh, easy and tastes great. I’ve made this for years now, keeping the feta to the side so guests can add as they like it. I find the longer it site before you serve, the better it tastes.

I liked this and I think I’m going to try it with some diced boiled potatoes, a little less mint, and some chickpeas

I used red and green bell pepper because it's what I had and I don't think it worked. It's also one of those salads that does NOT get better over night.