To be honest, I don’t understand salad recipes, mainly because most salad recipe’s titles explain everything you need to know to make them (ex: Arugula, Pear, and Parmesan Salad). Which is why I was hesitant to post this recipe, but I decided to overcome my salad-recipe-phobia for three reasons. (1) I posted it on my stories and got 10+ asks for the recipe, (2) the name of the salad doesn’t adequately describe what’s actually inside of it, and (3) it’s so dang good. So here I am, here we are, here it is – my coban salatasi, Turkish for “shepherd’s salad,” recipe.

INGREDIENTS

4 medium-sized tomatoes, whichever variety strikes your fancy

4 Persian cucumbers

1 small shallot or 1/2 small red onion

1/4 bunch parsley

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tsp. sumac

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground corriander

optional: fresh mint + dill, chopped finely

Note: the beauty of a shepherd’s salad is how easy it is to throw together – so while I have exact measurements listed here for the ingredients, please adjust to your liking! Taste, test, and try until you have the perfect salad combination for you.

DIRECTIONS:

Small dice the tomatoes and cucumbers (some people prefer the cucumber skin to be peeled, but I usually half-peel the cucumber so it looks striped as a happy medium). Finely chop the shallot or red onion, parsley and mint and/or dill, if using.

Add the chopped vegetables and herbs to a large mixing bowl, along with the remaining ingredients. Mix ingredients thoroughly and serve.

store: in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

diet: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free

eat it with: toasty, crusty bread (or pita chips) to soak up all the extra juices.