Excuse the pun, but everytime the sun comes out at the moment, I feel like I have a “spring” in my step. The days really are feeling a little brighter, longer and warmer (minus the storms last week, of course), and so I’m really looking forward to some more fresh, crunchy, hearty salads like this one. In Turkish Cypriot cuisine, we don’t wait until the Summer to eat fresh salads, and they are eaten throughout the year alongside main meals, such as stews and grilled meats and fish, and as leftovers for wholesome lunches. Serve this salad with fish, smoked, tinned or fresh, or with some fried hellim (halloumi) or beyaz peynir (feta). Or, if you adhere to a vegan diet, then it’s perfect on it’s own or with some added puy lentils or roasted sweet potato and cauliflower.
Ingredients
•1 x 400g can cannellini beans, washed and drained
•4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for drizzling
•Juice of 1 large lemon
•1 tsp white wine vinegar
•3tsp dried mint
•1 tsp sumac
•1 tsp sea salt flakes + extra to season to taste
•25g fresh mint leaves, reserve a few leaves for garnish, then finely chop the rest (reserve the stalks to use in a mint infused tea)
•50g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks finely chopped but kept separately from each other
•Seeds from half a large pomegranate
•2 small Middle Eastern cucumbers / 1/3 English cucumber (de-seeded) chopped into 1/2 dice
•4 small ripe tomatoes, chopped into 1/2 cm dice
•3 spring onions, finely sliced
•2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Method
Place the cannellini beans in a small pan, just cover with cold water, place on a medium-high heat, bring up to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for 2 minutes. Drain the beans fully and place in a bowl. Make sure there is no water in the bowl after you have drained the beans otherwise any excess liquid will water down the dressing. The reason we heat up the cooked beans is so we can dress them when they’re warm to soak up all the delicious dressing ingredients. Add 2 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil to the beans followed by all of the lemon juice, the white wine vinegar, the 1tsp of the dried mint, all of the sumac, 1/2 tsp of the sea salt flakes, all of the finely chopped mint leaves and half of the chopped coriander leaves (not the stalks). Gently toss everything together then leave to one side to cool down while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a large bowl mix together the pomegranate seeds, cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions, chopped coriander stalks and the remaining chopped leaves, 1 tbsp of dried mint, the remaining extra virgin olive oil, the pomegranate molasses and the remaining sea salt flakes. Gently toss the salad together and once the beans have cooled, serve everything together on a large platter. Garnish with the remaining dried mint, the reserved mint leaves and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of sea salt flakes.
