Need a quick side dish or topping for grilled meat? Whip up biwaz, a flavorful onion parsley salad, in just 5 minutes. It’s the perfect complement to shawarma, halal chicken over rice, joojeh kabobs or grilled tandoori chicken.
What is a Biwaz Salad?
Biwaz is a Lebanese parsley and onion salad, tossed with tangy sumac from and fresh lemon juice, making it a vibrant side dish or garnish for meat dishes. For even more sumac flavor, try sumac onions, piyaz, or sumac cucumbers!
Key Ingredients
- Parsley: Parsley leaves adds freshness to the salad and complements the flavor of the onions.
- Onion: I prefer red onions for their sharpness, but shallots or white onions work well too.
- Sumac: Massage ground sumac into the onions, just like for sumac onions. This Middle Eastern spice offers a tart, slightly sweet flavor and a vibrant color. It’s available online or at health food stores, but I recommend checking out local halal or Middle Eastern markets. If you’re out of sumac, sweet paprika with a little extra lemon juice can do the trick.
- Lemon Juice: Brighten the salad and enhance the flavor with fresh lemon juice from one lemon. Select a lemon with a vibrant color that is heavy for its size. Bring it to room temperature and roll it between your palm and the counter to make it easier to juice.
- Olive Oil: Use high-quality extra-virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Salt: Taste and season the salad with kosher salt.
Additions and Substitutions
- Mix it up. Replace the sumac with pomegranate molasses, a syrup made by reducing pomegranate juice. Add a pinch of ground Aleppo pepper for a touch of heat.
How to Make Biwaz
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Add the parsley, red onions, and kosher salt to a serving bowl. Use clean hands to massage for 2-3 minutes.
Prep Tip
Massage kosher salt into fibrous produce such as parsley and onions to soften the flavor and tenderize them.
Step 2: Stir in the oil, lemon juice, and ground sumac. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Prepare the onions. If raw onion flavor is too strong, soak the sliced onions in cold water for 20 minutes to mellow the taste. After soaking, drain the onions and pat them dry before massaging them with salt.
- Massage the salad. Use clean hands to massage the parsley and onions. This step softens the veggies by breaking down the cell walls and drawing out the moisture, making them more tender and easy to eat.
Whip up fresh biwaz salad and pair it with one of these dinner recipes!
Serving Suggestions
Biwaz is traditionally a tangy pairing for grilled meats and kabobs like grilled shish taoouk, Adana kebab, beef shawarma, grilled tandoori chicken, or beef seekh kabobs. But you can use the fresh onion and parsley salad to brighten roasted vegetables, salad greens, fried eggs, rice dishes, and wraps like Turkish lamb tantuni or falafel gyros with tahini yogurt sauce. You can even spread the fresh-tasting salad onto a crostini with butter bean hummus or beetroot dip.
What To Do With Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover salad in an airtight container 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sumac?
Sumac (summāq) means dark red in Arabic, and the name refers to a spice common throughout the Middle East to finish meals like fattoush. It comes from sumac berries, which are dried and ground into a coarse red powder for culinary purposes.
What does sumac taste like?
Like fresh lemons, ground sumac is tart and slightly sweet, making it a perfect way to add acidity without citrus.
More Salad Recipes:
Biwaz
- 1½ cups parsley leaves, halved and roughly chopped
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- lemon juice, one lemon
- 1 tablespoon ground sumac
- Add the parsley, red onions, and kosher salt to a serving bowl. Use clean hands to massage for 2-3 minutes.Tip: Massage kosher salt into fibrous produce such as parsley and onions to tenderize the veggies and soften the flavor.
- Stir in the oil, lemon juice, and ground sumac. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the onions. If raw onion flavor is too strong, soak the sliced onions in cold water for 20 minutes to mellow the taste. After soaking, drain the onions and pat them dry before massaging them with salt.
- Massage the Salad. Use clean hands to massage the parsley and onions. This step softens the veggies by breaking down the cell walls, making them more tender and easy to eat.