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Oleana restaurant’s Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing has bold, fresh flavors. Just one taste, and you’ll understand why this salad is so popular.
Just outside of Boston, in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, there is a wildly-popular Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean restaurant called Oleana.
The restaurant gets rave reviews for their eclectic and creative menu and deliciously innovative use of spices. And, back in 2016, Oleana was named to the Top 38 Places to Eat in the United States by Eater.com.
A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to run across the recipe for Oleana’s Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing on the Fine Cooking website. Oleana’s owner and chef Ana Sortun shared the recipe with the magazine herself—and knowing Oleana’s reputation, I immediately suggested to Jack that we make this salad.
This Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing has all of Olean’s signature characteristics and flavors, and it’s one of the best salads we’ve enjoyed in a long time.
How do you make Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing?
Crisp, fresh romaine lettuce is shredded and tossed with shredded cucumbers, baby arugula, and coarsely chopped fresh dill, mint, and flat-leaf parsley.
Coarsely chopped toasted walnuts are also added, along with some salt and pepper, as well as a few red pepper flakes.
But the star of this Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad is the lemony yogurt dressing. It is a mix of fresh lemon juice, whole milk Greek yogurt, and minced fresh garlic, plus champagne vinegar and olive oil. A little granulated sugar, as well as salt and freshly ground pepper season this bright and tangy dressing.
How do you serve Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing?
To serve this salad, toss the lettuce and cucumber mixture with about half the yogurt dressing, then top with some additional toasted walnuts. Serve the remaining yogurt dressing on the side and drizzle more on top of each serving.
This Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing recipe makes a generous amount of salad, and it’s especially good served with:
- Marinated Grilled Chicken
- Perfect Pork Tenderloin
- Perfect Pan-Seared Steak
- Cast Iron Chicken
- Steak Bites
You may enjoy these other Salad recipes:
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Shredded Romaine and Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking
Ingredients
Yogurt Dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar (I used Prosecco champagne vinegar)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1/2 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
Shredded Salad
1 large head of romaine
1 English cucumber (mine was one pound)
2 cups fresh baby arugula
1 cup whole walnuts, divided
3 tablespoons fresh dill, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes (or Aleppo pepper*)
Instructions
In a small bowl mix lemon juice, vinegar, sugar and garlic and let sit ten minutes.
Whisk in yogurt, salt, pepper and oil. Set aside.
Separate romaine leaves from core and discard core and any discolored leaves. Rinse under cold water and completely pat dry with paper towels. Stack the leaves and with a long sharp knife, start slicing thin slices from the stack from one end to the other. Add to a large bowl and toss.
Trim, peel and seed the cucumber and then shred on the large holes of a box grater. Place the shredded cucumber on some paper towels or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much water as you can. Add to the bowl with the romaine.
Coarsely chop the arugula and add to the large bowl.
Lightly toast whole walnut pieces and set a few aside for garnish. Add the remainder to the large bowl along with the dill, mint, parsley, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Toss to combine.
When ready to serve, toss half the dressing with the lettuce mix and top the bowl with the reserved walnuts.
Serve the other half of the dressing on the side.
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Notes
* The original recipe called for Aleppo pepper.
Made for a family gathering and everyone really liked the mix of ingredients! Will absolutely repeat.
Glad you liked the salad Pat!
Made it tonight – delicious. Thank you! Also my toddlers used some of the dressing to dip their cucumber slices in for snack time and they were in heaven.
Glad you enjoyed it Casandra! (We think the dressing is great as a dip too!)