Turkish-Style Shepherd's Salad with Parsley, Cucumber, Red Onion, Tomato, Sumac and Aleppo Pepper (Coban Salatasi)

This is my rendition of Turkish Shepherd's salad, a chopped salad that typically consists of tomato, cucumber, red onion, lemon juice, olive oil, assorted herbs, ground sumac and Turkish or Aleppo pepper. Other traditional ingredients include diced green bell pepper, chopped dill and/or mint, feta cheese, and Turkish or Greek black olives. This delicious and refreshing summer salad is a great accompaniment to meat dishes like Kofta (Middle Eastern meatballs/kebabs), but I'd be happy as a clam to eat this all day long as is. Just sayin!

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped Italian or flat-leaf parsley
1 small hothouse or English cucumber, diced
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. ground sumac
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tbsp.)

1. Place the sliced red onion in a colander and sprinkle with some Kosher salt; toss to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes and rinse with water. Shake well to remove as much water as possible. This step will help to tone down the sharp flavor of the onion.

2. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. 

3. Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to meld. 

Ground Sumac is available from Penzey's Spices online.  

Place the sliced onion in a colander and sprinkle with some Kosher salt. 

Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Rinse well and shake dry. 

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.

Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving (if longer than that, cover with 

plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use).