Israeli Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette and Roasted Nuts

A few months ago I purchased Shuk, a cookbook about Israeli Home Cooking, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.

The entire book has a strong emphasis on whole foods, and especially fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. (A "Shuk" is an Israeli marketplace with an overabundance of fresh produce.) The book also contains a vast amount of information about Israeli cooking and culture that I'm finding enormously enjoyable. 

But the salads in the book have captured my heart and my tastebuds.

My career in recipe development began with Of Batter and Dough, a baking recipe website. But as much as I love to bake, one must not live on cake alone.

My ideal diet includes a hearty amount of plant based meals, a little bit of meat and poultry, plenty of grains, some homemade bread, and dessert at least a couple of times a week.

We might have freshly baked cookies on the counter, but we also have at least 2 or 3 salads in the refrigerator. And, as much as I love carnitas, short ribs, and meatballs in marinara, the majority of the meals in this house are meatless and plant-based.

I do not find this kind of balance easy. One thing I've discovered is that I am considerably more likely to eat a lot of veggies if there are at least one or two salads in the refrigerator, prepared and ready to eat.

So twice a week, I do my best to chop some veggies and toss them together into a big salad that can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days and dished out as needed. Besides Israeli Salad, the other salad you're most likely to find in our refrigerator is this Vegan Pearl Couscous Salad.

But, the most important commandment to eating more veggies on the regular?

No Boring Salads Allowed

I read once that the reason iceberg lettuce became synonymous with "dinner salad" in this country is because it was the first kind of fresh produce we managed to ship across the country year round.

Getting fresh produce in the dead of winter might have been a novelty in 1920, but in 2020 it's the norm. What I'm saying is there's no excuse for boring, flavorless salad. 

One of the simplest ways to make any salad more interesting is to simply cut the veggies into very small pieces. This classic Israeli Chopped Salad is the perfect example.

It's a basic Middle Eastern cucumber and tomato salad that includes plenty of fresh herbs and whatever other veggies you want to throw in there like diced red pepper and carrots. If you cut the vegetables into large chunks, each bite would be kinda monotonous. But, chop the veggies into very small pieces and every single bite becomes an interesting collage of flavors and textures. 

Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe

Just looking at the ingredients for this Israeli Salad Recipe makes me feel healthier! This salad is made with raw, fresh veggies and plenty of fresh herbs. It's the kind of plant-based meal that I could happily eat nearly every day.

1. Carrots.
2. Red bell peppers. Feel free to use any kind of bell pepper but I particularly like the flavor of red bell peppers in this salad.
3. A Cucumber. Traditional Israelis salad is made with Persian cucumbers, but I usually use an English cucumber. For the most part it's best to avoid using regular cucumbers because they can be waxy and sometimes bitter.
4. Cherry tomatoes. I find that cherry tomatoes are fresh, flavorful, and plentiful year-round whereas other kinds of tomatoes are bland and flavorless unless purchased at the peak of the season. So, I mostly use cherry tomatoes in this salad. But, use whatever tomatoes you like in this recipe, especially if it's summer and you've gotten your hands on some delicious sun ripened local tomatoes.
5. Italian Flat Leaf Parsley. A hallmark of Israeli salads is the inclusion of handfuls of fresh herbs. In this recipe, a whole cup of chopped parsley (or more!) gives the salad a bright, fresh flavor.
6. Pomegranate Vinaigrette. The traditional dressing for Israeli salad is simply lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. But, I like to change it up a bit and toss all those veggies in pomegranate vinaigrette which adds a slightly sweet and tangy zing.
7. Salt and ground black pepper, to taste.
8. Yemenite Ja'ala (Roasted, spiced nuts and seeds). Ja'ala adds a spicy, crunchy burst of flavor to this salad, but you can use any kind of roasted nuts and seeds.

Delicious Additions to Israeli Salad

Most traditional Israeli chopped salad recipes include raw diced onions. I find that raw onions are too pungent and have a way of overpowering the other veggies in this salad. Instead, I like to add chopped shallots to the pomegranate vinaigrette.

Vinegar softens and rounds out the flavor of the shallots and the oil in the vinaigrette helps distribute their flavor throughout the entire salad. The effect is a distinct, yet subtle onion flavor that supports the other flavors in this salad instead of covering them up.

But, if you're an onion lover, add some diced red onion to the salad.

More delicious additions to this salad:

• Top the salad with crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese right before serving.
• Slice a hard-boiled egg over the top of the salad.
• Sprinkle on a handful of crispy, crumbled bacon.
• Toss in some roasted chicken.
• Add cooked grains such as rice, couscous, bulgur, or millet.
• Add any other vegetables you like. Diced cauliflower and broccoli are great additions as are thinly sliced radishes.
• For even more bright, fresh flavor top this salad with finely grated lemon zest.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Traditionally, Israeli salad generally always includes cucumber and tomatoes and often includes carrots, bell peppers, and onions. But you can swap any of the vegetables in this recipe for any other raw vegetable you like.
• Instead of fresh parsley, add any kind of fresh herbs you like. Mint, basil and fresh dill are particularly delicious.
• Use any kind of salad dressing you like instead of pomegranate vinaigrette. Or, keep it simple and use nothing more than freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
• For a veggie-only salad, forgo the Ja'ala nut and seed mix altogether. Or top your Israeli salad with some croutons instead.
• Make a creamy Israeli salad by mixing Greek yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, fresh dill, and salt. Toss the chopped veggies with this creamy dressing instead of the pomegranate vinaigrette.

Step-by-Step Photos and Instructions

Peel the carrots and trim the ends. Cut each carrot into three pieces, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. Slice each half into narrow carrot sticks that are about ¼-inch wide. Dice the carrot sticks into ¼-inch finely chopped pieces.

Slice off the tops and stems of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Cut each pepper in half, then slice each half into long slices that are about ¼-inch thick. Dice the slices into pieces that are about the size of a pea.

Follow the same pattern with the cucumber and trim the ends, cut the cucumber into three pieces, cut each piece in half, then cut each half into ¼-inch slices. Dice the slices into ¼-inch pieces.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. If using larger tomatoes, cut them into 1-inch pieces.

Add all the veggies to a large bowl along with the chopped parsley. Use a large spoon to mix everything up. Pour about ½ cup of Pomegranate Vinaigrette over the vegetables and gently toss them around in the bowl so the dressing coats every piece. Taste and add more salt, pepper, or vinaigrette if you like.

Serve the salad in bowls with spoons and a handful of Ja'ala, or any kind of roasted nuts and seeds.

How to Serve Israeli Salad

Israeli Salad is not traditionally served with nuts or any other kind of topping. Also, it's usually simply dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. This is a delicious and simple way to enjoy this salad.

But, Pomegranate Vinaigrette also makes a super tasty dressing for Israeli salad. It only takes a couple of minutes to prepare and keeps well for several days. I usually make a large batch and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator so I can drizzle it over salads and roasted or sautéed vegetables. 

And I love the nutty crunch that a handful of Yeminite Ja'ala adds to every delicious bite. Ja'ala is simply a mix of spiced roasted nuts and seeds. I almost always have a bag of it in the pantry, ready to be used as a crunchy salad topper, or simply eaten by the handful as a delicious snack. 

Can You Make Israeli Salad in Advance?

I am not joking when I say that I've been making this salad twice a week for months. It makes a great side dish to pretty much anything we happen to be eating on any given night and makes a great, healthy, easy lunch.

• Israeli salad will keep well in the refrigerator for at least 3 days. Store it in a covered container.
• Store the roasted nuts separately to prevent the salad from making them soggy. Add them to the salad right before serving.
• I also find that this salad lasts longer if you add the tomatoes right before serving. So, if you're planning to eat it over a few days, add a few tomatoes to your individual serving instead of including them in the whole salad.

What to Serve With Israeli Chopped Salad

• Israeli salad makes a light, fresh side dish to any kind of roasted or slow-cooked meat. A few of my favorites include Pork Carnitas, Roast Chicken, Asian Short Ribs, Tuscan Braised Beef or slow-cooked Tri-Tip with Fennel and Coriander Gravy.
• Serve it alongside Chicken Adobo with Coconut Milk or instead of the tomato and cucumber salad in these bowls of Sheet Pan Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki.
• For nights that call for soup and salad, serve Israeli salad with warm bowls of Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup, Red Lentil Soup with Ham, Spanish Potato Soup, or Zuppa Toscana.
• Israeli salad is also the perfect thing to serve with classic BLT sandwiches.