Chunky Crunchy Cheesy Salata
by Meliz Berg
This salad has pure holiday vibes written all over it. If you can source Ezine peyniri, a white cheese from Ezine, in North-Western Turkey, then it really is the best cheese to use in this salad. It’s creamy and less crumbly than most brined white cheeses, and has an intense, tangy flavour, and yet, is not overpowering at all. Teamed with rich extra virgin olive oil, fresh and dried herbs, the citrus-y heat of pul biber (or crushed chilli), and the mild acidity of the white wine vinegar lacing the crunchy salad vegetables, this is one salad that brings summery joy in every mouthful.
Method
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Add a drizzle of the extra virgin olive oil to a small frying pan and place on the hob over a low-medium heat. Once hot, fry the pine nuts for a couple of minutes, stirring them frequently until evenly golden brown and glistening, then take the pan off the heat. Set to one side.
Step 2
In a small bowl, mix together the cubes of feta with half the extra virgin olive oil, half of the dried mint, the pul biber (or chilli flakes), black pepper and the lemon zest. Set to one side.
Step 3
Add the tomatoes, baby cucumbers, lettuce, fresh mint and parsley to a large bowl and toss together well with 1 tbsp of the lemon juice (if serving 4) and all of the white wine vinegar. It’s important to do this first so that the vinegar and lemon juice do not water down the dressing after you add the oil.
Step 4
Drizzle the remaining extra virgin olive oil over the salad, toss well, then add the red onion, black olives and pine nuts, the remaining dried mint and toss again. Add the marinated cubes of feta to the salad, gently toss and serve immediately.
- Ingredients
- Based on 4 servings
-
250g Feta Cheese, or Ezine peynir/beyaz peynir (Turkish white cheese), cut into 2cm cubes 2x Sainsbury's Greek Feta Cheese 200g -
2 tsp Dried Mint 1x Sainsbury's Mint 12g -
2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar 1x Sainsbury's Wine Vinegar, White Wine 500ml -
1 Red Romano Or Small Red Bell Pepper, halved, deseeded and thinly sliced into rings 1x Sainsbury's Red Sweet Pointed Pepper Each, Taste the Difference -
1 Cos, or Baby Gem Lettuce roughly chopped 1x Sainsbury's Little Gem Lettuce x2 -
1 tsp Chilli Flakes, or Pul Biber or Aleppo pepper/Turkish red pepper flakes 1x Sainsbury's Crushed Chillies 32g -
50g Pitted Dry Black Olives 1x Sainsbury's Pitted Moroccan Dry Black Olives 110g -
2 Baby Cucumbers, Middle Eastern, Persian or Crooks Cucumbers or 1⁄4 Cucumber, (deseeded) and roughly chopped 1x Sainsbury's Baby Cucumbers 200g -
50g Pine Nuts 1x Sainsbury's Pine Nuts 100g -
25g Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley Leaves, finely chopped 1x Sainsbury's Fresh Packed Flat Leaf Parsley 30g -
5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1x Sainsbury's Olive Oil, Extra Virgin 1L -
1 Lemon, finely zested and juiced 1x Sainsbury's Lemons -
10g Fresh Mint Leaves, roughly chopped 1x Sainsbury's Fresh Packed Mint 30g -
3 Large Tomatoes, roughly chopped 1x Sainsbury's Jubilee Large Vine Tomatoes, Taste the Difference 450g -
1 Red Onion, finely sliced into rings 1x Sainsbury's Red Onions Loose -
Maldon Salt, to taste 1x Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 250g