This simple, fresh salad is the perfect foil to the richness of a more traditional holiday feast. Opt for a full fat and tangy yogurt for the dressing – I used a thick sheep milk yogurt, but Greek yogurt would work equally well, though you might need to add another touch of lemon juice to adjust the acid. With a weightier dressing like this, it’s important to dress the salad just before serving.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated on a Microplane
- Juice of one lemon, about 2 tablespoons
- ½ cup of full fat yogurt
- 3 tablespoons of water, or more as needed
- Fine sea salt to season
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried sumac
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 5 ounces (one standard bag) of lettuce
- 1-2 large carrots, shaved lengthways on a mandoline
- ⅓ cup Ziba Baby Pistachio Kernels, roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the grated garlic and submerge it in the lemon juice. Set aside to macerate for at least 5 minutes. Whisk in the yogurt and 3 tablespoons of water. The texture should be pourable, if it’s too thick add another tablespoon or two of water. Season with a generous pinch of salt, fresh thyme, and sumac. Pour in the olive oil and whisk to emulsify. Taste for seasoning by dunking a leaf of lettuce in the dressing, and thin it out with another splash of water if the texture feels cloying.
- In a large serving bowl, add the lettuce, shaved carrots, and ¾ of the chopped pistachios. Start by pouring over half of the dressing – you can always add more, but can’t solve an overdressed salad unless you have more lettuce on hand. Dress the salad with your hands until each leaf is slicked, adding more dressing if necessary. Scatter over the remaining pistachios. Serve immediately.
