Stole this one from Port Sa'id, where I worked under Elichai Berliner — my chef there, ten years younger than me, who still fired me without flinching. We had dinner together in Barcelona a few months ago and it brought back many great memories. I used to make this salad all the time, but it's surprisingly hard to get a large amount of herbs in Barcelona — this time I made the effort and used my cheat code with some restaurant suppliers.

Think of it as a Middle Eastern take on panzanella — the classic Italian bread salad — except yogurt, zaatar, and chilies take it somewhere else entirely. The heroes here are the herbs. The bread is the treat.

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main)

1/4 day-old challah
1/2 bunch radishes, roughly chopped
2–3 green hot peppers, finely chopped
1/2 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
1 large bunch cilantro, finely chopped, with stems
1 large bunch parsley, finely chopped, no stems
A handful of mint, finely chopped
Any leafy greens available (dill, rucola, basil…), finely chopped

For the vinaigrette

2–3 large ripe tomatoes, squeezed for their seeds and juice
Olive oil, equal parts to the tomato juice
Atlantic sea salt, finely minced
Black pepper

To serve

Yogurt
Zaatar
Finishing olive oil

Preparation

1. Cut or tear the challah into roughly five pieces per portion and toast in the oven until it's just starting to catch — you want real colour, almost char. Set aside.

2. Make the vinaigrette by squeezing the tomatoes directly — seeds, juice, all of it — and mixing with an equal amount of olive oil. Season well with the salt and black pepper.

3. Combine the radishes, peppers, spring onions, cilantro, parsley, mint, and whatever leafy greens you found in a large bowl. Dress with the vinaigrette and toss well. At the last minute, add the challah and mix it in — you want it to soak up the juices without losing all its texture.