Armenian Chopped Salad

One of the things I love about summer are the fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden. Summer is the time we get to eat a lot of sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and cucumbers sprinkled with salt. This is so easy as a side dish that we end up having them at least three times a week. Because of the bounty of fresh vegetables in the summer, it is easy to come up with no cooking recipes. Sometimes, when I want to spend a few more minutes putting something together I make this Armenian chopped salad. Luckily, I have tomatoes, cucumbers, mint and parsley all in our garden or a planter. In addition, I buy peppers and extra cucumbers from our local  farm store.

Aleppo pepper is a crushed red middle eastern pepper. It is not too spicy and has a very slight smokiness and sweetness to it. I’ve also added it to other things including chili and scrambled eggs. I have tried a substitution of mixing a teaspoon of paprika with a pinch of cayenne pepper and it was fine. It felt like it was missing the nuances of Aleppo pepper but I don’t think most people could tell the difference in a recipe. Alternatively, I substitute Marash pepper for the Aleppo pepper which has a slight difference in taste but comes from the town that my grandparents came from. It can be found in Armenian stores, middle eastern markets, spice stores carry and some grocery stores. You can skip the Aleppo pepper if you want in this recipe. I don’t feel like it is a deal breaker.

Not only do I love Armenian Chopped Salad as a side dish, I sometimes dice it a little smaller and put it on grilled boneless chicken, chicken kebab or losh kebab. It adds a bit of fresh and lemony brightness to a meal and who doesn’t need that?

Print Recipe

Armenian Chopped Salad

A bright and lemony chopped summer salad

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Armenian

Keyword: Armenian, Asian Steak Salad, chopped

Ingredients

• 2 large Ripe Tomatoes cut in about 3/4-1 inch dice
• 3-4 Pickling Cucumers cut in about 3/4-1 inch dice
• 1 Red Bell Pepper cut in about 3/4-1 inch dice
• 1/4 cup Parsley Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Mint Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Instructions

• Toss tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, parsley and mint in a bowl. Mix well.
  
• Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, kosher salt,and Aleppo pepper in a small bowl.
• Pour over salad and toss well.

Modifications

I wanted the tomatoes and cucumbers cut smaller than I was able to cut them but since I was so wiped out I wasn’t able to do it. At that point, I was somehow able to let go of the “wrongness” of it.

Since I ran out of energy, I also didn’t bother with the bell pepper. Using whatever combination of vegetables and herbs that you have or feel like from the recipe is also an option. Personally, I think the parsley is a must but it’s up to you!

I chopped the parsley in the food processor but did the tomatoes with a knife because they get mushy in the food processor. I also slivered/chiffonaded the mint by hand but really struggled with it. To chiffonade, I stack the mint leaves and roll them lengthwise. It was hard with my limited dexterity and I used a very small knife so I wouldn’t slip and cut myself. I didn’t think until later that I should have used the kitchen shears. My occupational therapist would have been both proud that I was trying to make my hands stronger and horrified that I was so close to my fingertips with the knife.

I also didn’t mix the olive oil and lemon juice in a separate bowl although it probably would have emulsified better.  I poured the olive oil directly from the bottle and estimated. I cut a small half of a lemon and squeezed it directly into the salad. If somebody got a lemon seed, I didn’t hear about it and at the moment that’s all that mattered. Nobody had to get “The Look” from me.

I just now realized I forgot the salt and didn’t even notice when I ate it.

I will do better next time.