Pakistani Salad with Lemon Dressing

What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?

- Lin Yutang

As a Pakistani, I can vouch for the fact that the words 'Pakistani' and 'Salad' do not go hand in hand. Pakistanis eat meat and (over)cooked vegetables. Salad is always something on the side - if it makes an appearance at all. It is usually either just lettuce leaves or sliced cucumber to be eaten alongside the 'real' food, or a medley of 'hard' vegetables (ie. radishes, cucumbers) dressed with vinegar or lemon.
I love these Pakistani hard vegetable salads and think they deserve pride of place on a plate. They are a blessing for a cook because they can be prepared and dressed well in advance without going soggy the way lettuce-based salads do. 

My Pakistani salad usually consists of radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, and anything else I can find in my fridge. I recommend throwing in some raw red onion or scallions/spring onions to add some bite. My dressing usually consists of plenty of olive oil, lemon and fresh coriander leaves.

PAKISTANI SALAD with LEMON DRESSING

(Serves 4)

Dressing Ingredients:

6 Tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Handful of fresh coriander leaves (around 3 Tbsp), roughly chopped

Generous pinch of salt and black pepper

Salad Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber, quartered and sliced into 1-inch pieces

1 carrot, quartered and sliced into 1-inch pieces

2 medium tomatoes (or 8 cherry tomatoes), cut into 2-inch pieces

1 bell pepper (any color), cut into 2-inch pieces

8 radishes, quartered

Half a raw red onion (or 2 scallions/spring onions), thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Combine all the Dressing ingredients in a small jar or bowl and mix well.
2. Cut all the Salad ingredients and toss them together in a salad bowl.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until the vegetables are evenly coated.
4. Refrigerate and serve.

for Best salads in ann-arbor: www.saladsup.com

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