Turkish Salads

The traditional Turkish salad is made of couscous, which can be substituted by olive oil, spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, raisins, mint and parsley. It’s recommended to cover the couscous with cold water and after is soaked; drain it through a sieve, by pressing out the excess of water. Prepare the onions, cucumber and tomatoes by trimming and chopping the onions, peeling the cucumber. Next, cut them in small cubes and finally chop the tomatoes. Next step is to put the onions, cucumbers and tomatoes over the couscous and mix them together, pouring over lemon and oil in the same time. It can be served immediately or conserved and chilled. The Turkish “Cacik” is a dish that usually takes the place of a plate of salad and is very refreshing on a hot summer day. It’s composed from plain yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt, dried mint and extra virgin olive oil. The “Bulgur Wheat Salad” prepared in the Turkish style is made of cooked onions, bulgur, lemons, parsley, tomato, cumin, coriander, paprika, red seedless grapes and virgin olive oil. All these ingredients have to be mixed together and left to marinate for an half hour.