Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Middle Eastern Tomato-Cucumber Salad






Salad doesn't get any simpler or more delicious than this:  ripe tomatoes, and crunchy cucumbers dressed with a squeeze of fresh lemon, and a drizzle of sharp olive oil.  Add some minced onion for bite, a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh herbs from the garden, parsley and mint. 

Done. 

Spoonable Salads


When Arabs talk about salad, they are not talking about a big bowl full of leafy greens.  Middle Eastern salads are dainty, bright and beautiful, made from finely chopped mixtures of fresh vegetables and herbs. Palestinians pride themselves on their cutting skills - a good cook is known by how evenly and how finely she chops her vegetables for a salad.  My American sensibility leads me astray here - forever in a hurry, I just want to make my vegetables smaller - I move quickly to cut my salads in a large, chunky dice.  No, no, no, my mother scolds me, Are you serving this salad with a knife and fork? she laughs.  So I go over my work, cutting more finely, mincing more carefully, until my salad is just as delicate as hers.  Our lettuce-free salads are cut so finely that you could eat them with a spoon.

Another distinctive of these salads is that they always include herbs, usually the refreshing combination of mint and parsley.  No bottled dressings here, of course.  Instead of a heavy dressing, these salads are dressed simply with lemon and olive oil,  poured right over top of the salad at the last minute and stirred in.  The combination of the fresh herbs and the olive oil and lemon juice makes these salads light and fresh, and an excellent counterpoint for the often heavier stews and rice and meats of Palestinian cuisine. 

In fact, these salads, which are served with every meal, are almost like a condiment.  Since they are finely chopped, these salads can be scooped up with piece of Arabic bread, or even allowed to mingle a little with the rest of the foods on the plate.  They are a bright splash against the rice-yogurt-cooked vegetables-and-meat that Arabic food really is. 

For more formal meals, or at restaurants, you can expect a mezze course, or a collection of small plates of salads, dips and pickled vegetables.  The spread is stunning - the colors and flavors of such a variety of little salads is something to remember. 


The Basic Cucumber-Tomato Salad


This tomato-cucumber salad is the basic salad served in the Middle East.  If your dinner comes with salad, this is what you will get.  If your mother tells you to go to the kitchen and make salad, this is what she means. 

The reason this salad is considered so basic is that tomatoes and cucumbers are available almost year-round in Palestine, and these vegetables are abundant, delicious, and cheap.  The cucumbers that I grew up with are different than your basic garden cucumbers that you can grow or buy in most of the West.  They are only four to five inches long, very smooth  and thin-skinned, with small seeds.  You can find them in other countries, and they might be labeled Persian cucumbers.  If you can't find them, you can substitute the long English cucumbers, since they have a similar flavor and have thin skins.  You can also use regular cucumbers, seeded and peeled, but the flavor is a little different.

And my, how I love those little cucumbers from home. When I went away to America for college, and had to live on Midwestern cafeteria food, I missed my cucumbers from home.  I remember coming back home at Christmas and sitting in on the living room couch late one night while I was recovering from jetlag, with a massive bowl of cucumbers.  I ate several pounds of cucumbers that night.  I ate them until I couldn't eat one more and I don't think anything has ever tasted so good to me in all of my life. 

This recipe is very simple, really, barely more than a list of ingredients.  You want to have about equal amounts of cucumber and tomato.  Add a little onion, mint or parsley, if you have it.  If you don't, it will still be delicious.  Wait to add the dressing and the salt until you serve it, because the salt will draw out the liquids and turn it a little soupy if you add it too early.  But the soupiness of this salad is part of its appeal, or so we think.  Just use a little bread to sop it up. 



Middle Eastern Cucumber-Tomato Salad



2 small cucumbers, diced finely
2 tomatoes, diced finely
2 tbsp. onion, minced
2 tbsp. parsley, minced
2 tbsp.  mint, minced

To dress: 
Drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Sprinkle of sea salt

Stir to combine and serve.


Sahtain!



Related Post:

*Cucumber-Tomato Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Shared on:  Real Food Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Fight Back Friday.



12 comments:

  1. I'm visiting my family in Massachusetts, and they have so many garden tomatoes and cucumbers, some are rotting on the vines. I am definitely making this to go with dinner tonight! Thanks Jessica!

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    1. You are very welcome! I hope you were able to rescue those poor tomatoes and cucumbers and put them to good use. Enjoy your time with your family!

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  2. I would love this recipe. I made one daily last year that was onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and balsamic vinegar. So tasty! Linking up from Kelly With the Kitchen Kop. Would love if you could drop by http://mywildcrazylife.blogspot.com and visit sometime!

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  3. Great proportions! I've always sort if winged it with fatoosh, but no more! Thanks for a great recipe. I'd never make it as a Palestinian girl though. It takes a lot of patience to chop it so finely. Love your blog!

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    1. Yes, it does take a lot of patience! And my mother regularly scolds me for chopping like an American. :-) I need to make a fattoush recipe, too. It is very similar to this salad, but with toasted chunks of bread and plenty of sumac. Yummm...... Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Our family loves middle eastern food and lately we have become hooked on a "Middleastern Salad" that we get at a local Mediterranean restaurant that is very similar to this but has a lots of finely chopped white cabbage...Your description above was very helpful in understanding what makes it "middle eastern"...Are you familiar with this salad with cabbage? Am I correct in thinking that it's the same salad with the addition of finely chopped cabbage? (Cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, mint, parsley, lemon juice)

    Thank you so much!

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    1. There are so many variations on this salad and yes, there is a cabbage version. Here is a recipe that I make, but of course, you can change up the vegetables. Just chop everything up very small and dress with lemon, mint, parsley and olive oil, and it should be delicious. Here's my cabbage salad recipe, published on MidEATS: http://mideats.com/middle-eastern-cabbage-slaw/

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  6. I would love this recipe. I was made this recipe that was onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and vinger. It was made very tasty and delicious. Thanks for sharing great recipe blog.

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  7. I love to cook this recipe for my parents on my fathers birthday which is coming on next week. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You are welcome, and happy birthday to your father!

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