The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / salads / Middle Eastern Salata

Middle Eastern Salata

July 31, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe  ↓ Print Recipe  ❒

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email
Middle Eastern Salata

This Middle Eastern Salata is a celebration of summer’s bounty as well as a gift that keeps on giving as the leftovers can be tossed with pasta to make an amazing pasta salad.

Middle Eastern Salata

Sammy and I made this Middle Eastern Salata together; salads like this are good practice for bigger kids working on knife skills. The night we made this salad, we served it as part of a Middle Eastern inspired dinner with kofta inspired burgers and roasted potatoes spiced with za’atar seasoning:

Middle Eastern Salata with Kofta Burgers and Roasted Potatoes

Sammy got into the entire process; as I have mentioned before, at my house preparing meals or desserts includes the actual prep and then photographing your results:

If you are wondering that is the old tripod–and clearly not the new table. The last few photographs I have taken have been inside with a whole new set-up, but I am a bit behind so you have not seen them yet.

This Middle Eastern Salata is a fantastic summer salad, because it uses fresh summer produce, like tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, and also because the leftovers can be used to make a refreshing pasta salad with minimal effort the next day. We enjoyed the pasta salad so much that we ate it until it was gone, scraping the dish clean (as the days go by the arugula in particular get wilted, but the pasta gives it enough structure that you don’t notice). Pardon the photo, but I just grabbed a quick, indoors iPhone shot of the “Middle Eastern Pasta Salata:”

Middle Eastern Pasta Salata

All we (ok, Alex) did is add pasta and a bit more feta cheese the next day. Perfect summer eating!

Middle Eastern Salata

Middle Eastern Salata
Print
Middle Eastern Salata

Don't worry about making too much of this salad because the leftovers can be combined with pasta to make an outstanding pasta salad. If you cannot buy Za'atar seasoning, here is a recipe to make your own.

Course: Salad
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
For the dressing:
  • 1-2 t Za'atar seasoning
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 T thicker (more aged or reduced) balsamic vinegar
  • 1 T pomegranate molasses
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of sugar, to taste
For the salad:
  • 18 mini cucumbers, sliced (dice if you use bigger cucumbers)
  • 2 sweet bell peppers, diced
  • 1/3 cup diced red onion, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes
  • 28 oz grape or cherry tomatoes, chopped (you could also use a fleshy tomato such as Roma)
  • 1 lb baby arugula
  • 10-15 Kalamata and/or black olives
  • 5-6 oz Crumbled creamy feta cheese (I recommend French feta cheese if you can find it)
Instructions
Make the dressing:
  1. Whisk together everything but the oil. Then, continually whisking, add the oil in a slow stream until the dressing is emulsified. Taste. Add more sugar if necessary--the dressing should be fairly strong.

Assemble the salad:
  1. Toss all of the salad ingredients together. Add the dressing and toss again. Serve immediately.

  2. If you have leftovers, go ahead and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. The next day boil up some pasta and toss it with the leftovers. Add some more feta cheese if you need it to be a main entree.

 

Looking for a collage to pin?

Middle Eastern Salata

Filed Under: Arugula, balsamic, cucumbers, Middle Eastern dishes, olives, pasta, Salad Dressing, salads, tomatoes, vegetarian Tagged With: arugula, cucumbers, feta, Middle Eastern, pasta salad, peppers, salad, salads, salata, tomatoes, vegetarian

« Middle Eastern Style Street Corn
Caribbean Thai Curry »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • North Indian Baked Eggs: Review of Seven Spoons
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Ash-e Anar (Persian Pomegranate Soup with Meatballs)
  • Potato Curry with Peas and Mushrooms; Review of Silk Road Vegetarian
  • Cuban Spicy Oxtail Stew (Rabo Encendido); Review of To Cook Is To Love

Copyright © 2008–2021 The Spiced Life