The best side dish to serve next rice, kebabs, grilled chicken, Hummus, Maqluba or just as a meal by itself. This middle eastern salad is full of flavor and it is so easy to make its hardly a recipe.
5 large roma tomatoes
2 medium romaine lettuce
3 medium Persian cucumber
2 stocks of celery
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon salt or to taste
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3 medium green onions
3 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
5 medium size radishes
Rinse all the vegetable and set a side to dry or use the salad spinner to remove the water.
Dice all the vegetables in to small size, add all in a large bowl.
Add lemon juice, salt and cumin, mix well and serve.
I am on the roll these days with delicious side dishes, this one my mom made all the time growing up and I love it now as much as I loved it back then.
It is easy, simple, and healthy, that is all I could say about it.
This salad is perfect prepared a day before; the raw cabbage needs to marinade in the lemon juice and olive oil overnight or few hours before serving.
.1 medium size green or red cabbage
.3 minced garlic cloves
.1/4 cup lemon juice
.1/4 cup olive oil
.1/2 tbsp. salt
.1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
Remove the first 2 layers of the leaves, I find the first layers are not clean to use from being handled and touched by people at the store.
With a sharp knife, shred the cabbage in to thin slices making sure to remove the core and any hard rips, you could use a food processer and chop it but that’s another equipment to wash!!!
Add the shredded cabbage in to a large bowl, add lemon juice, salt, red crushed pepper, olive oil and minced garlic, with clean hands mix well until all combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for few hours or overnight.
I could never keep Asparagus long enough in my refrigerator to cook them, I always buy it and forget about it until the following weekend when I clean my drawers and say ohhhh there they are!!
So this time I made sure to keep them visible so they would be in my face every time I open the door of the refrigerator.
Also had a bag of frozen corn in the freezer I needed to start using, and had mixed colors of bell peppers and these also have a short shelf life.
So I roasted the bell peppers and added them to the corn and asparagus and this salad was born.
I paired it as a side dish with my easy to prepare chicken kebab and baba ghanoush.
Salad
.2-3 lb. asparagus chopped to 2 inches
.3-4 cups frozen corn
.2 roasted yellow peppers
.4 tbsp. olive oil
.2 medium shallots chopped
.1 tsp. paprika
.1 tsp. chili powder
.1/2 tsp. salt
Dressing
.2 tbsp. olive oil
.1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
.1 clove garlic, minced
.1 tbsp. chopped flat leaves parsley
.1 tbsp. fresh chopped thyme
.1/2 tsp salt
.1/2 tsp. pepper
.1 tbsp. lemon zest
Preheat oven broil on high.
Line up baking sheet with thick layer of aluminum foil, spray with non-stick vegetable spray.
Wash and dry bell pepper and place on the baking sheet, broil for 10 minutes or until all side blistered making sure to turn it every few minutes.
Remove and set aside to cool.
On medium high heat, in a large sauté pan, heat olive oil add chopped shallots, add salt and sauté for few minutes or until light golden.
Add chopped asparagus and cook for 3-5 minutes, mix in paprika and chili powder… In the main time peel, deseed and chop the bell peppers.
Add to the pan and mix with the asparagus.
Add corn mix and cover to cook for 4 minutes.
Make the dressing
In a measuring cup add olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, chopped parsley, chopped thyme, salt, pepper, and lemon zest, and whisk well.
Turn off the heat, add the dressing to the pan, mix well, cover and let it stand for 5 minutes for the flavor to incorporate… Enjoy!
Tabouli is a Middle Eastern salad that packed with fresh herbs, bulgur, tomatoes, and lemon juice.
I love making tabouli any time of the year, but my favorite time is during the summer.
It takes me back to the wonderful times I had with my mom and sisters, growing up we used to make tabouli and go up to the roof to soak up the sun, enjoy the ocean view and the cool breeze while feasting on this wonderful healthy salad.
Now that I have my own family, I prepare the tabouli with my kids and they absolutely love it and ask for it all the time.
I have tried tabouli with Quinoa, Brown rice and Couscous, but Bulgur is my absolute favorite and the authentic ingredient to use in this lemony herby goodness of a salad.
4 medium Persian cucumber
3 punch of green onion
3/4 cup lemon juice
5 medium tomatoes
6 cups minced flat leaves fresh parsley
3 cups minced fresh mint
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. salt or to taste
2 cups fine bulgur #1
4 cups cold water
1 tbsp. cumin
In a large bowl soak the bulgur in 4 cups of cold water and set aside for 15 minutes.
Remove parsley and mint leaves from stems, only the thick woodsy stems, wash and lay flat on clean kitchen tea towel.
Roll the towel while the herbs in it, let it stand for about 10-15 minutes or overnight if you can.
Wash and dry tomato, green onion and cucumber, dice to small pieces, do not peel the cucumber, use both white and the green part of the onion, and place in a large size bowl.
In a food processer, add 1 or 2 cups at time of parsley and mint, pulse until finely minced, do not over process it or it will turn to a watery mess; about 15 times should do it.
In a large mesh strainer, drain the bulgur, with clean hands squeeze the water out of the bulgur little at a time, and add to the herbs and vegetables, continue until all the bulgur is squeezed.
Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and cumin.
With clean hands, toss the salad making sure to rub the bulgur with your hands to mix with the rest of the ingredients.
