WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS ...
... make this amazingly bright Middle Eastern salad
The brilliant sun of the Middle East seems to shine from the pages of Olives, Lemons & Za’atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking, by Nazareth-born Rawia Bishara (Kyle Books/canadian Manda Group, $32.99).
She runs a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y., that she named Tanoreen after an ancient Lebanese stone oven.
The entire cuisine of the Galilee and its neighbours is covered. If you have never attempted the increasingly popular cuisine of this part of the world, this talented cook gives so much helpful detail in her 140 recipes, she will help you master it all, from hummus to stuffed grape leaves to lamb shanks and even knafeh pastry. This is an exceptional book.
Tomato salad is the region’s favourite, just as tossed green is ours. Tomato dishes are plentiful and the photo of fried tomatoes topped with jalapeno peppers is mouth-watering, as are all the photos by Peter Cassidy. Pocket histories of each recipe are informative.
Bishara shows her cross-cultural approach with this salad, based on familiar greens but enlivened by a dressing made with a generous amount of lemon juice plus pomegranate molasses, ginger and sesame oil.
TANOREEN GREEN SALAD
Serves: 8
Dressing:
■ 1 cup (250 ml) fresh lemon juice, or to taste
■ 3 tbsp (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
■ 2 tbsp (30 ml) pomegranate molasses (optional)
■ 3 tbsp (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
■ 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tsp (5 ml) freshly grated ginger
Salad:
■ 3 packed cups (750 ml to 1 L) baby arugula
■ 1 packed cup (250 to 300 ml) baby spinach
■ 1 packed cup (250 to 300 ml) baby lettuce
■ 1 packed cup (250 to 300 ml) finely chopped kale
■ 2 plum tomatoes, diced, or 12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
■ 1 red onion, diced
■ 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves
■ Sea salt to taste
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped green olives
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped walnuts (optional)
1. For the dressing: In a medium bowl, mix together the lemon juice, sesame oil, molasses, olive oil, garlic and ginger.
2. For the salad: Prepare arugula, spinach, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, onion and mint leaves and toss together in a large bowl.
3. When ready to serve, pour dressing over salad and toss to coat greens evenly. Season to taste with salt and sprinkle with olives and walnuts.