Shopska Salad – The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.

Helllllooooo SUMMER! If there was ever THEEE Summer Salad, THIS would have to be IT. Trust me. Once that fresh smell of the cucumber hits your nose, you will absolutely agree!

You guys, guess where I’m at?! Just guess! Ok, ok, I’ll tell you.

I’m on a plane, flying over the Atlantic, heading to where it all started – my birthplace! YAY!

I’m so excited, you guys. I haven’t been back to Macedonia since 2011. That’s just pretty insane to me because I love my homeland so, so much! Besides that, my sister lives there and I haven’t seen her in 4 years! That is the hardest part. Heartbreaking, to be honest. My beautiful nieces hardly know me, and my brother-in-law is pretty much the best guy in the world!!
If I had it my way, and if an airline ticket didn’t cost 3 mortgage payments… and if I didn’t HATE flying… and if my girls weren’t so small, I’d go thrice a year!

Speaking of flying… could you say a prayer? PLEASE! I can’t stand it. At this moment, I’m probably asking the flight attendant for another shot of tequila. I’ll take anything that will put me at ease for at least 10 hours.

Soooo, since I’m heading home, and since I will be having this Shopska Salad every day for the next 4 weeks, I thought what better time to share it with you than NOW?

Sidenote. The entire Balkan Peninsula claims Shopska as their salad: Macedonians claim it to be theirs, Serbs say, nope, it’s ours…
Bulgarians also say it’s all theirs. Greeks, too, though they decided to call it “Greek Salad” and added a few olives to it. Then again, they just decided to call everything “Greek”, including salads, coffee, yogurt, the sky, the trees, air… aye aye aye…

In a nutshell? We will all go to war with each other to prove that something is ours and not theirs.
Not just Shopska, though. We fight about the ownership of Ajvar, land, Baklava, land, Kebapi, Musaka, and land.

But I have to add that, if we leave politics aside, we are the best of friends. Not kidding. We love one another like brothers and sisters. ♥

About that Shopska Salad…

You should know that this whole chopped mess is the epitome of everything I love to eat, starting with all things cheese and tomato juices. When making this salad, make sure that your tomatoes are juicy because that is what makes this salad so amazing. We don’t add fancy salad dressings. It’s oil and vinegar. Full stop. BUT you don’t need anything else because all the flavors blend so well together, and with the help of the tomato juice and creamy feta, oh mah gaaaaahhhh! It’s like a flavor explosion!

Also, and if you wanna eat it the authentic way, it’s one bowl, several forks, and a big feast of grilled meat on the side. That’s how you eat this salad. All the forks in one salad bowl. There’s no room for “ewwwww” around here. Gotta be real, gotta be genuine.

Okay, so since this is turning out to be the longest post of everrrr? And since I really hope you read it all? Can we just hop on over to the recipe? COOL! Also? Did you say a prayer? PLEASE. I hate flying. HATE!

Okay, thank you! XOXO

ENJOY!

 

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