While we still have a few more weeks of winter to go, I’m really craving light and refreshing spring/summer foods. However, during the winter months, fresh produce is not always the best quality here in Canada. But luckily in BC, we have lots of local greenhouses that sell fresh local produce year round!
This simple, refreshing Shirazi Salad was inspired by these locally grown greenhouse veggies.
Local BC Produce
While winter tomatoes and cucumbers cannot compare to fresh summer ones, greenhouse-grown veggies are a great alternative in the winter months. We are lucky here in BC to have lots of local farmers that grow greenhouse produce year-round that we have access to. I really prefer to buy local in general to support local farmers and producers, but also because the produce tastes so much better than those that come from far away such as Mexico or New Zealand.
I was lucky enough to find local greenhouse tomatoes and Persian cucumbers at my local grocery store, and I immediately jumped on them to make this delicious salad!
Read more about local producers and the different types of greenhouse produce at on the BC Greenhouse Grown website!
A Famous Persian Salad made with Local Ingredients
Shirazi Salad is a traditional Persian salad that is served with grilled meats or fish. It is light and refreshing due to the fresh, juicy vegetables, like cucumbers and tomatoes. I really prefer to use Persian cucumbers in this salad. Not only does it make the salad more authentic, but Persian cucumbers are smaller, more tender, and have little to no seeds, so they won’t water down your salad.
Fresh mint and parsley are also added to give the salad some more freshness, along with shallots, fresh lemon juice and olive oil.
Sumac: A Fun (and Authentic) Addition
While we don’t have local sumac available here in BC, I love to add this Middle Eastern spice to this Shirazi Salad.
If you’ve never had sumac before, it tastes tart and lemony, which adds even more freshness to this salad. Sumac is harvested from berries in warm climates in Southern Europe, such as Italy, as well as throughout the Middle East, particularly Iran.
If you are looking to buy sumac, make sure that it comes from one of these regions to ensure you get the best quality and flavour!
I hope that you enjoy this recipe for Shirazi Salad. Let me know in the comments below if you have access to greenhouse vegetables in the winter months, or if you have access to fresh vegetables year-round!
Get the Recipe!
Shirazi Salad
Ingredients
- 5 large field tomatoes diced, seeds removed
- 6 Persian cucumbers diced (or one large English cucumber, seeds removed)
- 1/4 cup fresh mint chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup shallots finely chopped
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac optional
Instructions
- Chop up all the vegetables and herbs and add them to a large bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and sumac.
- Mix everything to combine and serve! Consume within 2 days. Enjoy!
