Zoe lobbed me a bag of ingredients with which to make a salad to accompany the rich, Lebanese aubergine dish she was cooking for a midweek ménage à trois with Ayca at her new flat in Brixton. In the bag were: a cucumber, some walnuts, parsley, yogurt – a picture emerges – it was a good bag. I rootled around in Zoe’s spice box and found three different types of Palestinian Za’atar – a middle eastern mix that usually consists of thyme, sesame seeds, dried sumac and salt – and there are many variations. The Za’atar really made this salad delicious.
Also: you could easily swap in cucumber for a few grated carrots, cooked, cubed beetroot, or a mix of shredded vegetables like white cabbage for a variation on this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
a handful of chopped walnuts, lightly toasted in a dry pan
½ tablespoon of vinegar (e.g. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar, not balsamic)
2 tablespoons natural yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 level teaspoons of Za’atar
small bunch of chopped parsley
salt and pepper
How to make:
Mix all of the ingredients together, and then check the acidity and salt levels – add more if needed.
Eaten with:
Lebanese aubergine and green bean dishes, brown rice. White wine.
Dinner Document 