Named after Diamond House restaurant on Abovyan Street, Yerevan, Armenia. It used to be called Diamond Pizza and if you went in for the first time, drawn by the name because you fancied a pizza, you might never return. The pizzas were and probably still are not very good. I'm glad they changed the name, because everything else they do is wonderful.
Sveta and I were in and out of Armenia one winter and, as Yerevan can be quite a depressing city in winter, we spent a lot of time eating out. We had the occasional wee drink with our dinner too. Diamond was one of our favourite places and this simple salad is just one of the reasons why. I include it in the cookbook as an example of just how easy it is to make tasty, fresh dishes in minutes from just a few ingredients. For another slightly more complex but still very easy to prepare dish have a look at bunch-o-vitamins, another original gem from Diamond.
You can use any kind of lettuce for salads, of course. But for this salad, I've been using a straight-leaved green variety with a fairly bitter taste, which is widely available in Armenia. It's not quite cos lettuce, but very similar in taste and appearance, so cos lettuce would do nicely if you can get it. The bitter taste goes well with the sweetness of the corn.
1 lettuce
I small tin of sweet corn (or half of a large one)
A few spring onions
A couple of sprigs of parsley or green coriander
Salt
A splash of olive oil
A squirt of lemon juice
Shred the lettuce roughly, chop the herbs and mix all the greens together with the corn and a little salt. Put the oil and lemon juice in a small jar, close the lid tightly and give it a good shake. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently mix it in.