Before my sisters and their kiddos came to stay with us this past summer, I knew I wanted to plan a special meal for their final evening with us. Because we just don’t have that many opportunities to spend a few days together to relax and play and catch up on life, and I like to think that a table full of good eats is a special blessing on family and friends.
My sisters and I had saved these days on our busy calendars months in advance, and I was determined to ensure our shared hours together were tasty ones. I aimed to create a meal that was not only delicious, but one that made my sisters feel special. And I couldn’t get Egypt out of my mind.
I am the oldest of three girls. My middle sister, Cheryl, lived in Cairo, Egypt for almost 3 years with her family, and returned to the USA just as the 2011 revolution began. While they were living there, all of my family had an opportunity to visit Egypt and stay with them.
Blake and I traveled there with our two girls, our first overseas trip, and returned home just weeks before the revolution started. You can read about our trip here, here, here, and here.
Of course, when in a land as foreign to us as Egypt, the food was a major part of our trip. It still holds our memories captive.
It’s where our oldest daughter fell in love with shawarma…
Why we can’t eat an Oreo without being reminded of Borios…
And when we sink our teeth into a cucumber, we dream of the intensely flavored ones we devoured from the local souk, just a few blocks from Cheryl and Dave’s home.
The tastes of Egypt remain in our memories and when we come across dishes that trigger that special place in our minds, a flood of images and sounds and feelings come rushing back. And we just have to stop and talk about it.
That’s why I like this Mediterranean Chopped Salad so much. It transports me straight back to exploring the streets of Cairo, where helpings of fresh chopped salad were a daily staple. Served as a side dish or stuffed in a soft pita with falafel or shawarma, with a smear of fresh hummus…oh my. Seriously yummy!
This salad I created doesn’t represent any particular one that I enjoyed while visiting Egypt, but instead embraces a variety of the flavors locked in my memory. It’s a mixture of all the fresh goodness of the Mediterranean region and the Middle East, chopped and diced and passed around the table, a means for reminiscing.
I first served this Mediterranean Chopped Salad alongside Blake’s signature sweet and smoky grilled salmon the final evening of Cheryl’s and Jessica’s stay with us this summer. The two dishes made a lovely pair, and I’ve recreated this meal several times since. The salad is especially beautiful right now, with sweet late summer tomatoes and fresh herbs still thriving. If only I could walk to the souk for a few of those cucumbers…
Mediterranean Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 3 c. halved cherry or grape tomatoes quarter the tomatoes if they are large
- 2 large English cucumbers or 8 smaller Persian cucumbers diced
- 2 red bell peppers seeded and diced
- 2 large carrots peeled and thinly sliced into coins
- 1 large white onion diced
- 2 c. rough chopped arugula
- 6 scallions thinly sliced
- 6 large cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ c. minced fresh cilantro
- ⅓ c. minced fresh mint
- ⅓ c. minced fresh parsley
- 1 15- oz. can chickpeas garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- for the salad dressing:
- ¼ c. apple cider vinegar
- juice and zest of 3 large lemons
- ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. ground sumac
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- to finish the salad:
- ¼ c. toasted pine nuts
Instructions
for the salad:
- In a very large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Fold to combine.
for the salad dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together all salad dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and fold to combine. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving, to let flavors mingle.
to finish the salad:
- Gently fold salad to incorporate the dressing again. Add half the pine nuts and fold again. Sprinkle remaining pine nuts over top of salad. Serve.
- This salad is most crisp the day it is made, but leftovers can be enjoyed for another day or so. This makes a large amount of salad, great for a big group. Divide all ingredients in half for a smaller salad.
Your trip sound like so much fun and this salad is gorgeous! I love all the colors and mediterranean favors are my favorite!
Those pics are so great! What an amazing opportunity to have travelled there. Your salad looks so so good… and a great way to use fresh veggies while we can still get them at the end of season. Anxious to make this!!!
Lovely and delicious-looking salad, Brenda! :)
Sigh…what lovely memories. Thanks for sharing them. This salad is so beautiful. I love everything about it!
It was a very special trip, for sure. Thank you, Sheila! :)
What an amazing trip and a scrumptious salad to make after coming away inspired. It is just beautiful and I bet so delicious!
Thank you, Georgia! :)
Oh my gosh this salad this look great! I love it and the pictures too!
Thanks, Bree. I wish it was in my fridge every single week!
This salad looks amazing!!! Loving everything about it! And love that photo of shawarma in progress. :) One of my favorite treats. What an unforgettable experience for your family!
Truly unforgettable. We love taking out our photo book and talking about our time there. Thanks, Rachel!
Oh I’m so excited to read more about your trip to Egypt!! You know I am all about this salad – isn’t sumac the best?? PS: I want this salad on a shawarma!!
I had bought my sumac several months before using it for the first time in this salad. So perfect. You bring your shawarma, I’ll bring the salad. Ok?! :)
What a fun connection to this salad! I need to get more Mediterranean flavors in my diet and this would be the perfect way to do it. YUM.
I love MAKING this salad, too. The chopping is meditative…I’m in Egypt as I chop. :)
I love chopped salads and this one looks too good!!!
Wow- this salad looks incredible. I can’t wait to make it for my family!
Love this salad!!!
Beautiful salad. Thank you.
this salad looks absolutely amazing! and all those beautiful pictures – gorgeous!
My son sponsored a family to come to live in the USA from Alexandria, Egypt. They miss the county and family and friends there, but not the revolutions that were taking place. They are getting “Americanized” now as it been almost a year. However they will always miss the family and friends they left behind. Your salad looks great and it was so cool that your family got to visit Egypt before all the craziness started to come out strong.
I’m so curious about this family’s story. I want to hear more, Donna!! We are still in contact with friends living there.
They are a young couple (28 and 30) with a 2 year old child. The husband is a computer programmer (and he works for my son) and his wife stays home with the 2 year old. They lived with my son and his family for about 3 months until the husband learned how to drive. Where they lived they did not have a car and used public transportation or walked. Everything was locally available. They go to a Christian Orthodox Church and most all their friends and outing are with those church friends. They are very sweet and kind people, but even though they lived with my son for such a long while, they don’t come to visit very often, even though they are invited. They seem to feel most comfortable with the other Egyptian families and friends they have made at church. They speak good English because they are taught English early on in school in Egypt. They now have a nice home, car, and a good life here in the USA and seem very happy with the new life they have made here.
Ahhh, that shawarma photo takes me back! They are THE BEST. My family lived in Saudi Arabia for 3 years in the 80’s when I was in 2nd-4th grades, so growing up I got used to eating a mix of lots of ethnic foods. Middle Eastern food continues to be one of my favorite cuisines! But try as I may, nothing tastes quite as good as the authentic street vendor food carts.
This salad looks delicious, colorful and oh-so healthy. Can’t wait to try it out! With homemade pita, hummus and shawarma perhaps…
Lisa Frank :)
pinterest.com/ljfrank
I agree, the food just does not compare. What an amazing experience for you, living in Saudi Arabia. We spent a few days on the Red Sea over Christmas, and we could look across the sea and see Saudi Arabia. It’s a beautiful memory. So nice to hear from you, Lisa. Thank you!
What a perfectly gorgeous salad! And so nice that it brings up fond memories for you and your family.
Thank you, Lana!
This salad is gorgeous- I can’t get over all the colors. Your trip to Egypt sounds amazing. It’s on my bucket list of places to visit!
Thank you, Kelley. Yes, it was quite the experience. One I’ll never ever forget.
Oh I love that pic of you all & the camels!!! What a great post, and Brenda I really need this salad right now. I’m in a salad funk! This looks so delicious.
If we lived closer, you know I’d bring you a big bowl of this, right?! :)
I love to go to Egypt for the sites but especially the food. This salad looks just wonderful–chopped salads are the best and all of these ingredients go so well together!
Thank you, Julia!