2 crunchy cucumbers
2 medium firm tomatoes
1/2 an onion diced
5 lettuce leaves (optional)
cilantro (optional)
juice of at least one lemon (to your taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (to your taste)
Cut up each vegetable very small. Add the dressing just before serving.
Lettuce and cilantro are optional.
Wash the cilantro and lettuce really well to get rid of sand and unwelcome bugs.
Everyone just loves an Israeli Salad. What's the secret to this simple yet delicious salad? Honestly, it's all about the simple ingredients and the delicate dressing of lemon, olive oil and salt.
So let's start at the very beginning. Pick the crunchiest vegetables for your salad. The classic would be Persian cucumbers, tomato, onion. Some have a true equation that they follow. Hagit, for example, uses 2+2+1/2+5...that translates into the above recipe.
There really is no wrong equation in our eyes. Put in what you like, what's in season and just dice them up really small to get the authentic look of the salad. I, Dafna, use an English long cucumber, dice it up with the seeds, as long as they are not wet. If the seeds appear wet, scoop them out and toss. I only use one tomato, a red or yellow pepper, a carrot or two, half an onion (spring onions if I have them) and most times a whole romaine heart. Everything is chopped fine, the lettuce is shredded really thin by hand and I put the dressing on just before I bring it to the table. Hagit does not put in half of the veggies I do, it's up to you what goes in and what stays out.....make your own version of this salad and enjoy.
Israeli Potato Salad
4 white potatoes
4 hard boiled eggs
1 can of peas and carrots (15oz)
4-5 Israeli pickles
Mayo
salt and pepper to taste
Boil potatoes with skin until soft. Let them cool down then peel and cut into small cubes.
Cut up the hard boiled eggs using and egg chopper then add them to the potatoes.
Drain the can of peas and carrots and add them to the potatoes and eggs.
Dice up the pickles and add them to the mixutre so far.
Mix the 3 tbsp of mayo with salt and pepper plus 1/4 cup of pickle juice and 1/2 tsp of mustard. Mix this dressing really well and add to the potato mixture, toss really well without squashing the ingredients.
Chill for a few hours before serving.
We ar not quite sure what makes this so Israeli but the ingredient that is a must (in our opinion) is the Israeli pickles. You can certainly use any pickles if you wish but the taste won't be the same. You can now find Israeli products in every supermarket. Buy the pickles in brine, not vinegar.
When I was growing up (Dafna) my dad who is Persian made this salad almost the same way and we called it 'salad oliviyeh'. The only major differences were that to this salad my dad would add a diced roasted chicken breast plus he would only use fresh carrots (boiled then diced) and fresh peas from the pod....who has the time today! Hagit grew up with Russian parents who ate this salad back in their home towns and called it 'Russian Potato Salad'. In any case, this salad is a welcome diversion from your everyday potato salad.
You can use fresh, canned or even frozen peas and carrots. In our crazy lifestyle we don't have the luxury of time, so we look for every short cut know to man. The salad dressing can be made with low fat mayo to save some calories. We love this potato salad especially at Pesach time when we can add it to any meal.
