Tonight I made the Caprese Salad with Sweet Tamarind Dressing recipe from Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. It’s a twist on the traditional caprese salad, adding the tamarind dressing and substituting cilantro for basil.

The recipe called for “jaggery or muscovado sugar” and “dried urfa biber chili flakes or dried Aleppo pepper flakes,” all new ingredients to me. I was able to find muscovado sugar at YDFM. I had no luck finding urfa biber or Aleppo pepper. I’ve heard of Aleppo; I believe Christopher Kimball talks about it a lot. I looked at YDFM, Patel Brothers (a nearby Indian grocery), a Whole Foods 365, and Publix, but had no luck. I didn’t trek up to The Buford Highway Farmer’s Market, but I bet I could at least find the Aleppo there. Regardless, I was fine not adding another ground chili to my pantry. I subbed the half teaspoon called for with a quarter teaspoon of ground ancho chili and a quarter teaspoon of generically labeled ground “mild chili” (which we have found to not be mild).

Preparation was easy: blend the dressing ingredients together, then toss with the tomatoes, mozzarella, and cilantro.

I didn’t bother asking the kids to try it (they wouldn’t want the ingredients nor the dressing), but my wife and I both enjoyed it. It’s a good summery side dish, very refreshing, and I thought it was smart to call for grape, cherry, and plum tomatoes, as they are so much tastier from the store than romas or slicing tomatoes.

I am cooking my way through Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. Read more about it.