Traditional Cypriot dinner is impossible to imagine without mouth-watering salads and appetizers, that tend to appear on the table in the very beginning of the evening. Green salad with fresh tomatoes and Feta cheese, olives (sometimes baked in foil), tzatziki — a cucumber dip, pickled veggies, tahini paste, caperberries, several types of cheese, fish and seafood salads, beans and other starters show that a dinner is about to begin.
We would like to tell you more about our favourite Cypriot salads and give several recipes for you to practise and enjoy original Cypriot taste at home.
Recipes
Tahini paste
Tahini condiment is made from toasted sesame seeds and is widely used by Cypriots as a dip sauce, a base for hummus, and, when mixed with water, as a dressing for salads and meals.
Ingredients
Sesame seeds: 1 cup
Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
Sesame oil: 1 tablespoon
Cooking method
Sesame seeds are toasted on the frying pan for 2-4 minutes (until they are lightly colored). Then seeds are left to cool to be put in the a food processor for about 3 minutes. Add olive and sesame oil. Seeds should be grinded in a crumbly paste. Then put the paste into a jar and store in the fridge at least for one month.
Tzatziki
Tzatziki is one of the most famous Greek dips. It is made from yogurt cheese (a strained yogurt), fresh cucumbers, garlic and greens. Tzatziki are usually served with some bread or vegetables for dipping or as a sauce for meat or garnishing. You can also use it as a topping instead of sour cream.
Ingredients
Greek strained yogurt: 2 cups
2-3 fresh cucumbers
Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
Garlic: 3 cloves
Mint and salt to taste
Cooking method
Peel cucumbers and grate them or cut in small pieces (do not forget to squeeze out grated cucumbers, otherwise sauce may turn out too watery). Then mix cucumbers, strained yogurt, olive oil, pressed garlic, mint and salt in a deep bowl.
Tzatziki is served cold.
Ahtapot Salatasi
Ahtapot Salatasi — an octopus salad — can give a dinner a real zest. This Cypriot salad is usually served with bread and butter.
Ingredients
Octopus: 300 gr
Water: 1,5 litre
Green onion: 100-150 gr
1-2 garden onions
2-3 tomatoes
Sugar: 4 tablespoons
Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
Chopped parsley: 2 tablespoons
Capers: 2 tablespoons
Salt: 1 tablespoons
Lemon juice: 4 tablespoons
Pepper: to taste
Cooking method
Clean and wash an octopus, then cut it into large pieces and boil in salted water for 40-50 minutes. While cooked octopus is draining, peel and cut tomatoes, green and garden onions. Then cut octopus, mix the ingredients in a large bowl, add chopped parsley and capers.
To make dressing mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a separate dish.
Onion salad with honey
Onion salad with honey is really easy to cook. You will only need the ingredients you will probably not even need to go to the store for.
Ingredients
For salad:
3 red onions
7-10 olives
For marinade sauce:
Honey: 1 tablespoon
Pepper, salt, olive oil, vinegar: to taste
Cooking method
Chop red onions into small pieces. Then make a marinade (by mixing honey, pepper salt, olive oil, and vinegar) and pour it over the onions. Leave for 1 hour, then add olives and put the salad on a serving platter.
Çoban Salatası or Choban salad
Çoban Salatası is a Turkish salad which is usually served with fresh-baked bread in the beginning of a meal.
Ingredients
2-3 tomatoes
½ onion
½ green pepper
1 cucumber
6-8 green olives
Goat cheese: 125 gr
Olive oil: 5 tablespoons
Salt, oregano: to taste
Cooking method
Peel tomatoes and chop them into 4 large pieces. Mix them with finely chopped onion, pepper, cucumber, and goat cheese. Add olive oil, salt and oregano. The salad is served with green olives.
Borulce Salatasi peas salad
Borulce Salatasi salad is made from black-eyed peas that do not need to be soaked in water for several hours. Salad can be served cold or warm, depending on individual taste and the season.
Ingredients
Black-eyed peas: ¾ cup
Zucchini: 400 gr
Lemon juice: 2 tablespoons
Olive oil: 3 tablespoons
Salt and pepper: to taste
Lemon: several slices
Cooking method
Boil black-eyed peas in a pot for several minutes, then pour the water out and add fresh water mixed with lemon juice and salt to the pot. Boil for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, cut zucchinis and boil them in the same pot for a couple of minutes.
When black-eyed peas become soft, take them out from the pot and put into the salad bowl. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper before serving.
Grapefruit salad with soft cheese
Grapefruit salad with soft cheese is often served with meat and fish dishes.
Ingredients
For salad:
2 grapefruit
Tomatoes: 200 gr
Soft cheese: 200 gr
Olives: 50 gr
For sauce:
Olive oil: 3 tablespoons
Marjoram: 1 teaspoon
Salt and pepper: to taste
Cooking method
Peel a grapefruit thoroughly and cut it into thin slices. Ring tomatoes and dice soft cheese. Then put all the ingredients in the dish in the following order: first grapefruit slice, then tomato slice, then a piece of cheese and so on. Olives go on top.
To make a dressing mix olive oil, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Cool salad in a fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.
Warm Lentil and Halloumi salad
Halloumi cheese is extremely popular among both Cypriots and travellers. People roast or grill it, add to salads and eat with bread and vegetables. Warm Lentil and Halloumi salad is really easy to make. It is also filling enough to replace a second course.
Ingredients
Halloumi cheese: 250 gr
Green lentils: 150 gr
Cherry tomatoes: 250 gr
½ garden onion
Cilantro
Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
½ lemon
Garlic: 1 clove
Salt and pepper: to taste
Cooking method
Peel and chop onion and garlic. Chop cilantro coarsely and cut cherry tomatoes in half. Boil previously rinsed lentils for about 30-40 minutes (until slightly soft), then drain and transfer to mixing bowl.
Halloumi cheese is easy to roast: cut it into slices and cook for 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Dice roasted cheese into smaller pieces.
Mix cilantro, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice and spices. Mix all these ingredients with warm lentils and Halloumi cheese.
Tonosalata
Tonosalata is a Greek tuna salad.
Ingredients
Green beans: 200 gr
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
Lettuce salad
Green salad
1 onion
1 potato
1 can of tuna
1 can of anchovy fillet
2 eggs
10 black olives
Olive oil: 4 tablespoons
Vinegar: 2 teaspoons
Mustard: 1 teaspoon
Cooking method
Boil potatoes, eggs and green beans and allow them to cool. Wash and drain lettuce and green salad, tomatoes and a cucumber. Chop cooked and raw vegetables and mix them in a bowl. Then add beans, chopped anchovies, tuna pieces and whole olives.
To make dressing mix olive oil, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Serve with eggs cut into 4 pieces.
Melitzanosalata
Melitzanosalata is a Greek salad made from baked eggplants. It can be served as a side dish or as a dip.
Ingredients
4 eggplants
Garlic: 1 clove
Olive oil: 4 tablespoons
Balsamic vinegar: 1 tablespoon
Salt, lemon juice, white pepper: to taste
Cooking method
Bake eggplants in an oven for about an hour at 220 °C (it is better to use foil). Be sure to overturn eggplants several times to bake them evenly. Allow them to cool, then cut in two and gently remove the skin, grate the flesh and put it into the colander to drain.
To make dressing for the salad peel and grate garlic, mix it with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
If you are going to serve Melitzanosalata as a side dish, you may add sweet pepper, Feta cheese, and parsley.
Vodino salata
Vodino salata is a filling meat salad popular on the island. It takes a little longer to cook than most other salads, but the result makes it worthwhile.
Ingredients
For salad:
Beef: 1 kg
Celery: 2 stalks
1 carrot
2 garden onions
3 potatoes
Green beans: 250 gr
2 tomatoes
Pickled cucumbers: 1 jar
Parsley: 1 bunch
Bay leaf, salt, pepper: to taste
For sauce:
Vegetable oil: ½ cup
Lemon juice
Mustard: ½ tablespoon
Salt, pepper: to taste
Cooking method
Cook and cool down potatoes and green beans. Chop beef and put it into boiling salted water. Take the foam off the top, add celery, bay leaf, a little bit of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, one onion and one carrot. Simmer for 2-2,5 hours.
Meanwhile chop the other potato, an onion, tomatoes, pickled cucumbers, green beans and the rest of parsley. When the meat is ready, add it to the salad bowl.
To make a dressing blend vegetable oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper.
Garidosalata
Garidosalata is another traditional Cypriot salad with prawns, caper berries and pickled cucumbers. You will definitely like it if you are interested in unusual flavor combinations.
Ingredients
For salad:
Prawns: 1 kg
3 potatoes
5 pickled cucumbers
Capers: 2 tablespoons
For sauce:
Vegetable oil: 6 tablespoons
Lemon juice
Mustard: ½ teaspoon
Salt, pepper, vinegar, finely chopped parsley: to taste
Cooking method
Boil prawns in salted water with a touch of vinegar. Chop previously cooked potatoes and slice pickled cucumbers. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add capers.
To make a dressing blend vegetable oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, and parsley.
