Shopska salad, named after the village of Shopska in the outskirts of Sofia, is the quintessential Bulgarian salad. It takes advantage of the wide assortment of high quality vegetables that Bulgarians grow.

I made a fundamental mistake when I made it: I forgot to add the feta cheese. I'd bought it, I'd cubed it, but neglected to add it to the salad before serving it. Still, it was well received though not as enthusiastically as other salads I'd made. I halved the ingredients in the original recipe, the recipe below serves four if you are serving it as part of a larger menu.

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Shopska Salad

Ingredients

• 1 green rell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• olive oil
• vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Italian parsley, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 lb. Bulgarian feta cheese, cubed (Sirene)

Instructions

Combine the vegetables, sprinkle with oil and vinegar, top with parsley and season. Add the cheese and serve.

Adapted from The Eastern European Cookbook