Dish of Georgian Salad
(click to enlarge)

Georgian Salad


R. Georgia   -   Kutaisuri Salati
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 5 salad
**
1 hr
Most		 The most popular salad in Georgia. I have taken some liberty with the dressing. In Georgia they may sprinkle salt and pepper onto the salad, then drizzle it with either Olive Oil or Wine Vinegar.

------
1
10
3
1
1
1/4
3
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2
2
1/3
1/4
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3
---
#
oz
oz
cl

c
T
---
T
T
t
t
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oz
-- Salad
Tomatoes
Cucumbers (1)
Onion, red
Garlic
Chili, Green (2)
Basil, Opal (3)
Cilantro
-- Dressing
Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil ExtV
Salt
Pepper
-- Optional
Imeretian Cheese (4)  
Salad   -   (25 min + 30 min chill time)
  1. Cut TOMATOES into wedges, or half wedges if large, or however you want it.
  2. Cut CUCUMBERS into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. If all you have is standard green blimps, you'll have to peel and seed them and cut into quarter rounds. (see Note-2).
  3. Cut ONION in half lengthwise, then slice thin crosswise fairly thin.
  4. Crush GARLIC and chop fine.
  5. Slice CHILI (if used) into rounds up to 1/4 inch thick.
  6. Chop BASIL coarse. Chop CILANTRO fine. Mix.
  7. Mix together all Salad items. Refrigerate until ready to serve
Dressing   -   (4 min)
  1. Mix all Dressing items items in a small jar so they can be shaken vigorously before pouring. Cool.
Cheese (if used)   -   (5 min)
  1. Dice Cheese into small rectangles.
  2. Mix Cheese into salad before applying dressing, or use as a garnish.
NOTES:

  1. Cucumbers:

      Persian or similar cucumbers which need neither peeling nor seeding are preferable. If all you have is regular waxed blimp cukes, peel them, cut in quarters lengthwise and seed them. You'll need a couple ounces more to compensate for the peels and seeds.

  2. Green Chili:

      This is an optional ingredient. Photos I've seen include narrow green chilis similar in appearance to the hot green Indian chilis we get around here, but I have no idea how hot their's are. Here in Los Angeles we can also get Italian chilis that aren't very hot and long green Korean and Indian chilis that are moderately hot. For details see our Chilis pages.

  3. Opal Basil:

      The Georgians are very big on Opal (Purple) Basil, and that's what's always called for in this salad. 1/4 cup equals about 3/4 ounce of leaves and tender tips, lightly packed, after stems and damaged leaves have been removed.

  4. Cheese:

      Imeretian is a simple fresh lightly salted cheese aged about 2 days (variously made). It is not much available in North America unless you make it yourself, but we have many fresh cheeses here. I have used Touma Chicago Cheese which works fine. For details see our Varieties of Cheese page.

  5. Comments:

      In Georgia, this salad may also be served with a Walnut dressing. See our recipe Georgian Walnut Dressing.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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