the unemployed cook

This is a creamy, fresh and light salad, ideal for a starter or as a side dish to grilled meats or hamburgers. When I first tried it I was a bit dubious, but it is now one of my favorites Bulgarian salads, and trust me, they know how to make salads over there!

WARNING: It needs to be made at least the night before serving!!

Ingredients for 6 people

• 1.5 Kgs of whole plain yogurt (not the sweetened kind!)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 4 - 5 medium cucumbers
• 50 g of walnuts
• A nice bunch of flat leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt

Method

1. Making a salad a day in advance may seem weird but here is why, the yogurt needs to be drained of much of its water content. To do this you can use a cheesecloth or a clean nylon stocking. Fill with the yogurt and leave to drain overnight.
2. Shortly before serving wash, peel and chop in small pieces the cucumbers
3. I don’t like crushing garlic but unless you can chop it very thinly then I suggest you crush the cloves with a garlic press
4. Chop the walnuts into small pieces, don’t use a mixer as they need to stay coarse for a little crunch in the salad
5. Chop the parsley as thinly or as coarsely as you like
6. Mix everything with the drained yogurt (if it is too thick then just use some more yogurt to thin it a little bit)
7. Add the olive oil and salt to taste
8. Garnish with a little chopped parsley and black olives

Trivia: Snejanka means snow white, as in the fairytale!