Levantine cuisine · Salads & Mezze

Salatet Shamandar

Cooked beetroot in cubes, dressed with garlic, lemon and parsley and sprinkled with walnuts.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g cooked beetroot
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 lemons
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 60 g walnut kernels
• 1 spring onion
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Peel the cooked beetroot – gloves are best – and cut it into even cubes of about 1.5 cm.
2. Grind the garlic with 1/2 tsp salt in a mortar into a smooth paste and whisk it with the juice of the lemons and the olive oil.
3. Toast the walnut kernels in a dry pan over medium heat for 3–4 min. until fragrant, then let cool and coarsely chop.
4. Finely chop the parsley and cut the spring onion into thin rings.
5. Toss the beetroot cubes with the dressing and half the parsley, season with salt and pepper and let sit chilled for 15 min.
6. Before serving, sprinkle with the walnuts, the remaining parsley and the spring onion rings, and arrange well chilled.