Middle Eastern and African salads: What's out there besides Tabbouli?

[Darienne]

Couldn't find a thread on salads in general in the Middle East and Africa. 

 

I have this wonderful cookbook: Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa by Habeeb Salloum, 2000.  It predates my interest (aka obsession) with cooking and I have no idea why I bought it.  Isn't even second hand...

 

I've made Tabbouli for many years now...NO TOMATOES...but let's not go there again.  We'll just agree to disagree.

Today I made Salatat Fool (Peanut Salad) because its main ingredient is peanuts and my DH loves peanuts.  The salad is great and he likes it immensely...although he did suggest that I put more vegetables into it, which I refused.

 

Any one else out there making any notable salads from these regions?

[Smithy]

One of our favorites is an Egyptian eggplant salad with roasted chunked eggplants, chopped tomatoes (sorry, is it that you don't like them?), a bit of chopped onion and parsley, all tossed with a lemon garlic vinaigrette.  I could eat that salad for days.  I think it gets better if it's allowed to sit for several days, but it never lasts that long.

 

Fattoush: a wonderful way to use stale bread, pita or otherwise.

[Darienne]

I LOVE tomatoes.  Just not in tabbouleh (or one of its many spellings.)  I use a great lot of mint in it and love it to pieces.

 

Fattoush I have had at a local Persian Falafel shop and the pita was deep fried.  Oh yes. 

 

Do you have a name or a recipe for your Egyptian salad?  I love eggplant. 

 

Come to think of it, a now long lost friend, a blonde freckled Canadian, whose parents had given her a Persian  name for reasons completely unknown to me (and of course right now I can't remember it) introduced me to a salad which cannot be 'Canadian' in origin but must come from the Middle East.  Chickpeas and sliced black olives and halved cherry tomatoes, with tons of parsley and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing.  Cannot get enough of this salad.  It and the Tabbouleh are two of my mainstay salads for the Annual Dog Weekend when I feed a gang.  I'll add the Salatat Fool this year.  I need salads which can withstand several days of keeping. 

 

 

Added almost one hour later:  It just came to me.  Her name was Narjis.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Darienne (log)

[Smithy]

In my Egyptian cookbook it's just called "Salated Betingaan", i.e. eggplant salad. (Good luck with the spelling! ) The ingredients are loose and the proportions forgiving. This cookbook is Flavors of Egypt from City and Country Kitchens, by Susan Torgerson. She lists
2 medium eggplants, roasted
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
2 tb finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp chili (pepper)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 tb lemon juice or vinegar
2 tb olive oil
I generally make at least double the dressing (which begins with making a paste of the garlic and salt) for the amount of salad, and I often use more eggplants and/or tomatoes, depending on what's available. I favor Meyer lemon juice in the dressing when I can get it.

Another fine salad from that book is called "Salated Mashwy" (grilled salad). The ingredients are onions, potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, a hot pepper, tomatoes, and capers if you wish. Everything but the capers gets grilled to char and cook through, then peeled if appropriate and chopped. A lemony salad dressing similar to the one above, but with sumac instead of chili, dresses the lot. This is another very flexible salad. Sometimes I'll add chunks of marinated chicken, lamb or beef to the grill and include it in the salad for our one-pot dinner.

[Smithy]

Please tell more about the peanut salad. Your chickpea salad also sounds great, but I think I can figure that one out from your description.

[Darienne]

Thank you.  I shall make this one as soon as I can.  Sounds wonderful.  And also look for the cookbook. 

The world of international cuisine just keeps opening new doors every time I turn around.  Thanks again.

[Alex]

Yotam Ottolenghi's Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds. Works with young kale, too, if you're not married to someone who prefers her kale unrecognizable.

[Darienne]

https://books.google.ca/books?id=JX-EAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT161&lpg=PT161&dq=salatat+fool&source=bl&ots=w7TpThA5Zr&sig=6I31WJSRIWagS2rssNeDO4itxFA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBGoVChMI35fCsqb0xgIVyjo-Ch3a5Qbb#v=onepage&q=salatat%20fool&f=false

 

I can't seem to do this one anymore.  OK.  Maybe it has worked this time.  Above is the recipe for the Salatat Fool from Habeeb Salloum' cookbood.  I found it on Google.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Darienne (log)

[ChefCrash]

Hello ladies and Alex, miss you guys:)

First let me clarify, "Salatat Fool" is Fava bean salad and not peanuts.

Other salad options are,(these are Lebanese, and not necessarily middle eastern)

Fattoush

Cabbage, vinegar, olive oil, dried mint, s&p salad

Purslane salad (fattoush made with puslane insted of lettuce)

Leaf lettuce, garlic lemong-gret and dried mint.

Tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, dried mint, lemon-gret  salad with a bit of Berberi spices (little Etheopian twist) or ceyenne pepper.

Summer Savory, red onion, sumac, s&p and just a touch of oil.

Cucumber, yogurt, garlic, dried mint, salad.

[Smithy]

Welcome back, ChefCrash; good to see you! A couple of questions:

- What, please, is lemon-gret? (or is it lemong-gret?)

- What would be the Berberi spice mix?

[Smithy]

This is a shot of my most recent eggplant salad.  We make it fairly often.  Get the juices right, get some good crusty bread to sop up extra dressing, and you have a fine meal.  I think the colors are beautiful.

 

[FauxPas]

Welcome back, ChefCrash; good to see you! A couple of questions:

- What, please, is lemon-gret? (or is it lemong-gret?)

 

I hope ChefCrash will correct me if I am wrong, but i suspect it's basically a lemon vinaigrette dressing. 

[Smithy]

I hope ChefCrash will correct me if I am wrong, but i suspect it's basically a lemon vinaigrette dressing. 

 

Ah, that makes sense.  Thanks.

[scubadoo97]

Middle eastern cuisine if flush with wonderful vegetable salads.

[Nicolai]

 

First let me clarify, "Salatat Fool" is Fava bean salad and not peanuts.

 

Let me double clarify.

 

In certain areas of South Egypt and Sudan and bordering neighbouring countries. Fool also means peanuts.

 

The OP is very clearly specifying that peanuts are used in the salad and it is a fact that there are many recipes of salads using peanuts

whether as a main ingredient or not......in different parts of the world.

 

Fool also means beans whether Fava or other types in different areas of Africa and the Middle East.

Fool is also a particular recipe using Fava beans with a variant in different countries.

 

Please check your facts before jumping in the broth