Spring Salad

A quick and easy assembly of both familiar and unexpected ingredients, my Spring Salad offers layered flavours and contrasting textural delights. Here, tender lettuces, sunflower sprouts, and soft feta are perfumed by fresh mint and dill. Floral mulberry molasses and fruity olive oil offer rich sweetness, and the nutty crunch of emerald green pistachios and blue poppy seeds bring everything together in one sensual, seasonal delight.

Inspired by some of the ingredients that I regularly bring home from my favourite Toronto area Turkish grocery stores (such as this one and this one), this salad is unmistakably not Turkish. However, it features a number of classic Turkish ingredients worth seeking out, that you can use in this dish and many others once you have them on hand. If you aren’t able to locate the specific Turkish varieties of the ingredients specified, you can still make this delicious salad with the easy substitutes described below.

Ingredients

This springtime delight starts with your choice of soft, tender lettuces; I like to use small gem lettuces, but have also used butter lettuce, leaf lettuce, or standard mixed greens if that is what I have on hand. Fresh mint leaves and dill fronds add fresh, sweet, herbal notes, and fresh sunflower sprouts add tender, tasty, succulent texture and flavour.

To add textural variety and earthy flavour blue poppy seeds contribute a fresh, nutty pop of crunch, and one taste of crushed Turkish pistachios is so surprisingly different from their supermarket counterparts that you may feel that you have never really tasted a pistachio before! 

Optional feta is added for creamy richness and tangy contrast; my choice here if I can get it is Macedonian feta. If you haven’t had Macedonian feta before, close your eyes and imagine if feta and cream cheese created an offspring - this is that cheese, and it is as delicious, silky, and creamy as you imagine. 

The dressing is a simple, rich, and deeply flavourful combination of mulberry molasses (or Dut Pekmezi), a fragrant fruit syrup made from the juice of mulberries, extra virgin olive oil, and a small pinch of sea salt.

Instructions

The construction of this salad involves little more than the usual washing and drying of greenery, the crushing of nuts, and the cubing of feta. To begin with, scatter the fresh greens herbs, and sprouts are into a large bowl or plate. Simply shake the dressing ingredients together in a small jar, and pour over the greens before adding the additional toppings.

After adding the dressing, scatter the herbs, sprouts, poppy seeds and crushed pistachios on top.

As a final step, dot small cubes of feta over the salad. I like to serve the salad before tossing for the best aesthetic presentation, and then just before serving I give the salad a very gentle tossing, more like a bit of nudging, to allow the ingredients to fall into the nooks and crannies.

Substitutions

If you don’t have the specific Turkish ingredients described above on hand, you can easily substitute them with the ingredient options listed below, and the result will be just as delicious with a slightly different flavour profile.

Regular poppy seeds and standard shelled pistachios will certainly work just as well, and if you don’t have mulberry molasses, use a thick balsamic vinegar with a little honey mixed in to mimic its syrupy, fruity flavour.

While Macedonian feta is my favourite type of feta, any feta that you like, or even crumbled soft goat cheese, will also work well, and that’s what I use when I can’t find the less available Macedonian feta.

Of course if you are completely plant-based, omit the feta completely or substitute with a soft vegan cheese that has a mild, not too salty flavour, such as a cashew based cheese.

Recipe Pairings

Looking for other recipes to accompany your Spring Salad? Try these:

Print Recipe

Spring Salad

Here, tender lettuces, sunflower sprouts, and soft feta are perfumed by fresh mint and dill, floral mulberry molasses and fruity olive oil offer rich sweetness, and the nutty crunch of emerald green pistachios and blue poppy seeds bring everything together in one sensual, seasonal delight.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 8 cups salad greens softer, buttery lettuces would be an ideal choice here, such as boston, leaf lettuce, little gem, or salad mixes, washed, dried and torn into pieces as needed
• ¼ cup mint leaves washed and picked, woody stems discarded
• ¼ cup dill fronds washed and picked, thick stems discarded
• 1 cup sunflower sprouts washed and dried
• 2-3 tablespoon shelled unsalted pistachios crushed or chopped
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds use blue, black or white poppy seeds
• 2 tablespoon mulberry molasses or substitute balsamic vinegar mixed with a little honey
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup feta diced into small cubes

Instructions

• Make the dressing by combining the mulberry molasses (or balsamic and honey substitute), the extra virgin olive oil, and a small pinch of salt into a small jar. Shake vigorously until well combined and set aside.
• Choose a medium to large size salad bowl that you will serve the salad from. Scatter the lettuce, herbs, and sprouts into the bowl. Shake your dressing again if needed, then drizzle evenly over the greens.
• Sprinkle the poppy seeds and the crushed pistachios on top of the greens, followed by the small cubes of feta. Serve the salad before tossing for best aesthetic presentation, and then give the salad a very gentle tossing, more like a bit of nudging to allow the ingredients to fall into the nooks and crannies, serve, and enjoy!