Lebanese Shankleesh Salad

I ate this last week at a Lebanese restaurant and was blown away by how tasty it was. This salad is traditionally a breakfast dish which includes cheese called Shankleesh, a delicious soft, crumbly ball rolled in dried thyme or zaatar. The taste is quite unique but somewhat similar to Feta, so if you can’t get hold of shankleesh then you could substitute. It’s very simple to assemble and can be part of a mezze platter or as an accompaniment to meat or fish.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
125g Shankleesh Cheese
1 tomato (peeled and 1cm diced)
1/2 medium onion (1cm dice)
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Crumble the cheese in one layer onto a large plate. Sprinkle the onion evenly, then the tomato. Grind over the black pepper then drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with the lemon juice then serve.

SERVING:
Serve with flat bread as a meze dish.

Image from User Lilandra at Flickr – removed upon request. Thanks