Easy Wins
Award-winning and bestselling cook Anna Jones gives her golden rules for easy wins in the kitchen with super-simple recipes that are bursting with flavour and kind to the planet.
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Esme salad with grapefruit
Esme salad is a staple of Turkish cooking. You’ll find a bowl of this bright salad in most Turkish mezzes in the restaurants that line the
streets of Hackney. I first tried it in one of those places, alongside falafel, Turkish feta and stewed runner beans. I think the onion is key here. It brings sweetness, a bit of savouryand some acidity to balance out the other punchy flavours which make an esme salad. Here it’s best to leave the finished salad to mingle for a couple of hours before eating if you can. Mine is not as finely chopped as the ones in the ocakbaşi near my house, and capers are wildly untraditional but I like them. The grapefruit is inspired by a trip to Bubala in London; they put grapefruit in their version.
- Duration
- Difficulty
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 ripe vine tomatoes, finely
- 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 pink grapefruits, peeled and segmented
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
- ½ large cucumber, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers
- zest and juice of ½ an unwaxed lemon
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- a pinch of chilli flakes
- ½ a bunch of parsley (15g), leaves picked and chopped
Prep the salad
Put 2 finely chopped ripe vine tomatoes, 1 peeled and finely chopped red onion, 1 peeled and finely chopped clove of garlic, 2 peeled and segmented pink grapefruits, 2 deseeded and finely chopped red peppers, ½ a finely chopped large cucumber and 2 tablespoons capers in a serving bowl.
Make the dressing
In a jar or small bowl, mix or shake the zest and juice of ½ an unwaxed lemon, 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 table spoon harissa paste together. Pour this over the salad ingredients, toss together, then sprinkle over ½ teaspoon sumac and a pinch of chilli flakes.
Serve the salad
The salad is best if left to sit for a couple of hours before serving. If you leave it to sit, drain off most of the liquid before adding ½ a bunch of chopped parsley and a little more olive oil. I serve it with flatbread and dips like hummus, cacik (a Turkish cucumber and garlic dip) or labneh.
Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days and brought to room temperature before eating.
Additional information
As featured in
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