Palestinian Chopped Salad (Salata Arabieh)
This recipe, which was included in an August 2020 story about what to do with tomatoes at the peak of their season, is adapted from Falastin: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley. We reviewed the cookbook in July 2020.
Of course this salad is best when made with super-ripe tomatoes bursting with flavor, but because there’s so much going on it in, it’s also pretty good with less-than-exciting Romas outside of the season. In Palestine, write Tamimi and Wigley in the headnote:
It’s as ubiquitous as it is compulsory alongside every meal. It’s there at breakfast, to have with hummus and falafel. It’s there at lunch, inside a warm pita stuffed with kofta. It’s there at supper, alongside the spread of pickles and olives and a rich meat stew.
It’s also infinitely tweakable. The book offers two variations. One adds a rounded 1/4 cup of tahini and a tablespoon of sumac (we tried it; it was superb); another adds a cup of Greek yogurt and a tablespoon of dried mint, which also sounds wonderful. “Play around as you like,” write the authors; “cubes of tangy feta, black olives or creamy avocado are a really nice addition, as is a sprinkle of za’atar.”
Serves 4 to 6 as a side.
Ingredients
4 small Persian cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber, quartered lengthwise, seeds removed if English, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large heirloom tomatoes or 6 Roma tomatoes, but into 1/4-inch dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 or 2 serrano chiles or jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
3 scallions, finely sliced (green and white parts)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (30 grams)
Rounded 1/4 cup finely shredded mint leaves (15 grams)
1 large garlic clove, crushed through a press
2 lemons: finely grate the zest to get 2 teaspoons then juice to get 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl or individual plates. Serve fairly soon, as it will get watery if it sits too long.
Recipe notes
• The original recipe calls for 7 green onions (scallions), or scant 1 cup/70 g. Our 3 average American scallions weighed 81 grams, so we are suggesting 3. To most closely match Tamimi’s, use 70 g.
• The original recipe calls for “1 1/2 cups/30g parsley, very finely chopped.” It seems the authors must have measured the parsley before it was chopped (when it’s much more voluminous) to get the 1 1/2 cups. We weighed out 30 grams of loose leaves, then chopped them fine and measured them: we got 1/2 cup. Similarly for the fresh mint: The original recipe called for “3/4 cup/15g.” We weighed out 15g of mint leaves, shredded them fine and wound up with a rounded 1/4 cup.