Georgian Salad with Walnut Dressing

The story

Georgian Salad with Walnut Dressing is a Georgian starter with a clear sense of place. Fresh tomato and cucumber salads are common across Georgia, but the walnut-dressed version is especially distinctive because the nuts turn vegetable juices into an instant sauce. The recipe below keeps the defining ingredients and technique intact while giving practical metric quantities and enough detail for a home cook to judge texture, seasoning and doneness rather than simply follow a timer.

Ingredients

• 500 g ripe tomatoescut into wedges
• 350 g cucumberschunked
• 100 g red onionthinly sliced
• 30 g fresh corianderroughly chopped
• 25 g flat-leaf parsleyroughly chopped
• 90 g Walnuts
• 6 g Garlic
• 25 ml wine vinegar
• 80 ml water
• 0.5 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp fine salt

Method

1. Put the sliced onion in a small

   Put the sliced onion in a small bowl with half the vinegar and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes. This softens its raw bite without removing the sharpness completely.

   Tip: Use truly ripe tomatoes and include every drop of their juice; it is part of the dressing. Avoid: Refrigerated tomatoes taste dull; thick walnut paste smothers the vegetables; dressing too early makes cucumber limp.

2. Crush walnuts and garlic to a fine

   Crush walnuts and garlic to a fine meal using a food processor or mortar. Mix with the remaining vinegar, ground coriander and enough water to make a pourable, beige dressing.

3. Cut tomatoes over the serving bowl so

   Cut tomatoes over the serving bowl so none of their juice is lost. Add cucumbers, herbs and drained onion.

4. Season the vegetables lightly with salt and

   Season the vegetables lightly with salt and toss once. Wait 2 minutes so the tomato releases a little more juice into the bowl.

5. Pour over the walnut dressing and fold

   Pour over the walnut dressing and fold gently; the tomato juice should loosen it into a light coating rather than a heavy paste.

6. Serve immediately while the cucumber is crisp,

   Serve immediately while the cucumber is crisp, spooning the walnut-tomato juices from the bottom over the top.

   Look for: Tomatoes are juicy, cucumbers remain crunchy and the dressing clings lightly without pooling as a paste.

Nutrition

per serving

Estimated from the listed ingredients and default serving size. Actual values vary with brands, trimming, absorption and cooking losses.