This salad is made with lots of unusual ingredients. I used LEMON CUCUMBERS, Lemon Verbena, Preserved Lemon and Lemony Sumac. The lemon cucumbers do taste different than regular cucumbers.They are very crisp and sweet. I’ve never come across lemon cucumbers in the store and I only find them at Farmers Markets. The Lemon Cucumbers I’m using today I purchased at the Pinnacle Peak Farmers Market but I remember last year I purchased them from the Anthem Farmers Market. I also just came across Lemon Cucumbers at the Scottsdale Farmers Market. These Lemon Cucumbers go extremely well with honey crisp apples. Lemon Verbena, Preserved Lemon, Sumac, Urfa Pepper, Walnuts and Feta sort of gives this salad a Mediterranean Accent.

The salad is easy to prepare. I also used walnuts in this recipe. I heated the walnuts for a short time in the microwave with water to remove some bitterness from the walnuts. Then  put a little oil, sugar and salt and pepper on them and just ten minutes in the oven so they were nice and lightly seasoned.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

8 lemon cucumbers – skin removed, sliced up and cut in halves

1 cup assorted bell pepper slices

1 large honey crisp apple cut in slices

1 celery rib – cut in thin slices on an angle

1/4 cup sweet onion sliced very thin

12 dates (preferably local Arizona Grown) – pits removed and chopped

1 preserved lemon – fruit and white on skin scraped out well and rind chopped

3 sprigs lemon verbena (about 100 leaves) – chopped

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon sumac

1/2 teaspoon urfa red pepper

1 cup walnuts – slightly broken

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon sugar

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 oz sheep’s milk feta cheese crumbled (preferably the mild and creamy kind without tang) to top salad with

Directions

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F.

Put the walnuts in a microwavable bowl and add one cup of water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes. You will see a lot of brown water that is very bitter. You’ve just removed much of the bitterness from the walnuts. Drain the walnuts well and put in a small mixing bowl and add I tablespoon olive oil, I Tablespoon sugar and fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Then set to the side. Top salad with walnuts and feta cheese when it’s ready to be served.

Get a large bowl and everything left expect the cheese gets mixed together.

When ready to serve top with walnuts and cheese.

I know it’s pretty darn tasty and I also was told that this was really good!

Enjoy!