TUNISIAN MECHOUIA SALAD

Ok, ok. Now I know that you all have been hoping for a traditional Tunisian dish to appear on the LLOR blog. Guess what? It's here!

My friend Aicha was gracious enough not only to send me an authentic Mechouia (pronounced meh-schway-uh) Salad recipe, but to also help me with the French translation. My French just wasn't that expert and if you've ever used dictionary.com's translator, you'll know that it doesn't quite cut it for literal translation.

Mechouia is a grilled salad made with green peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic. It's quite tasty by itself or with a baguette. There are many toppings that you can add to it, but my personal favorite is with nothing additional added. This recipe will give you options of what to put on top of the dish. And the best part, is that you can find all of these ingredients locally and in Tunisia, pretty much year round!

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Tunisian Mechouia Salad

4 green peppers (In the states, a mild green pepper like a poblano would do.)

4 Roma tomatoes

2-4 cloves of garlic (add more or less depending on your love for garlic)

Juice from a lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp of olive oil

Optional for toppings: a hard boiled egg, tuna (Tunisians LOVE tuna), capers, black olives

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Place the peppers and tomatoes in a shallow baking dish and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. 1/2 way through, flip the vegetables and add the garlic. Check the vegetables and if not already, continue in the oven until the skin becomes black and soft.

After the vegetables are done, place them in a bowl with a lid for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow the peppers and tomatoes to cool and make them easier to peel.

Remove peppers and tomatoes and peel the skin as not to remove any of the 'meat'. Remove seeds from peppers.

For the next step, get out either your food processor or a simple knife and fork. When using the food processor, PULSE the peppers, tomatoes and garlic into a nice chunky mixture (much like you would make salsa). You can also simply use a knife and fork to cut everything up and mix together. The KEY here is not to turn it to mush.

Remove from processor and add olive oil, 1TBsp of the lemon juice (fresh is best), and salt and pepper to taste. Finally (optional), place on lettuce and decorate with capers, black olives, tuna, and a hard boiled egg cut into quarters. Serve with baguette or eat plain.

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Thanks to Aicha for submitting this great recipe!

LLOR needs more recipes! Send them to teresaintunisia@gmail.com. We want to know what you're making in your overseas kitchen.