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Salad shirazi, cucumber, tomato and onion with lime and mint
Salad shirazi, named after the city of Shiraz, is cucumber, tomato and red onion cut very small and dressed with lime, olive oil and dried mint. It is the cool, sharp salad that sits beside almost every Persian rice dish and stew.
- 15 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber (about 350g)
- 4 ripe tomatoes (about 400g)
- 1 small red onion
- 2 limes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- Half a teaspoon fine salt
- A small handful of flat leaf parsley (about 10g), finely chopped
Let's cook
- Peel the onion and cut it into dice about 5mm across. Put it in a small bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to soften its bite, then drain it well.
- Cut the cucumber into 5mm dice. If it is very watery in the middle, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon first.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters, cut away the wettest seedy cores, and dice the flesh to the same size as the cucumber. Small, even pieces are the whole point of this salad.
- Put the cucumber, tomatoes, onion and parsley in a bowl.
- Squeeze the limes. Whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice with the olive oil, the salt and the dried mint, rubbing the mint between your fingers as you add it.
- Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving and toss gently. Taste and add more lime or salt if you like it sharper.
Tips
- Dress it at the last minute: once dressed it turns watery within an hour.
- The cut vegetables, undressed, keep covered in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Swaps
- Sharper: use 3 tablespoons verjuice (the sour juice of unripe grapes) in place of the lime; check its label for sulphites.
- No parsley: use a few torn fresh mint leaves instead.
Tags
None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Cucumber, tomatoes, onion, lime, olive oil, mint, parsley and salt contain none of them.
Check every packet for allergens.