Piyaz: A simple summer salad

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Ingredients for piyaz
Ingredients for piyaz (Jessica Grann)

By Jessica Grann

In Israel and throughout the Mediterranean Basin, salads, or salatim, rarely contain lettuce. Some are raw, and some are cooked — like matbucha or Moroccan carrots. Either way, I love them because they keep well in the refrigerator. Every day you can have a little of this and a little of that, and they add to the meal. I make a different salad almost every day so that we always have a healthy and flavorful assortment.

Piyaz is a perfect summer salad. It’s much healthier than potato or macaroni salad, full of protein and is so easy to prepare.

My recipe calls for canned cannellini beans, so it can be thrown together in a few minutes. If you make it a day ahead, the beans will have a chance to marinate, but it also tastes wonderful just after you prepare it. Prep time is less than 10 minutes.

Piyaz

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

  • 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 large beefsteak tomato, diced
  • 1½ cups chopped parsley
  • Half a red onion, sliced thin
  • Juice of half a lemon or more to taste
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
  • Diced green bell pepper (optional)

Rinse and drain the beans in a colander, placing a paper towel over the top to help them dry. Or, if you have the time, simply let them sit in the colander to dry before you chop up the vegetables.

Transfer the beans to a mixing bowl, add all ingredients and stir well before serving.

Feel free to cover with plastic wrap and let the flavors marinate for a few hours or overnight.

This also makes a great vegetarian main dish if served with hard boiled eggs. It’s very refreshing in the warmer months either way. Enjoy!

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