I had a salad in one of the hostels I stayed at in Guatemala which was owned by Israeli guys, and they had a chopped salad on their menu that tasted so fresh and I absolutely loved it. Â I had completely forgotten about it until a few weeks ago and I decide to search for ‘Israeli Salad’ on Pinterest.
There are quite a few different ways of making an Israeli salad according to many food bloggers out there, and like everything else I make this is my own version of it. Â I sort of wanted to create something fresh and vibrant for a hot summer day and I thought adding some fruit would be the perfect way to do that. Â An since pomegranate seeds are somewhat of a staple in Middle-Eastern Cuisine, I knew they would be the perfect add-on. Â As you can see in the ingredient list below I also decided to incorporate some nectarines (they just happened to be in the fridge), which also worked out really well.
I served this as a side dish with a beautiful filet of wild lingcod and a spicy Chermoula (Morrocan sauce made of fresh coriander).  Click here to check out the recipe!
- 1 large English cucumber, diced finely
- 1 pint of heirloom cherry tomatoes, diced finely
- 1 whole red bell pepper, diced finely
- 1 whole yellow bell pepper, diced finely
- 1 whole red or white onion, diced finely
- 1 whole pomegranate, (seeds)
- 3 small nectarines, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup fresh mint chopped finely
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped finely
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced *optional
- 1 tsp ground sumac *optional
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit in the fridge for about 1 hour. This will allow the flavours to blend in. Enjoy with grilled fish or on it's own as a light summer meal!