Salata Mechouia
A delicious salad of grilled veggies, lemon, oil and fresh grilled tuna. The eggs and olives add a typically Tunisian flair.
Salata Mechouia (which means “grilled salad”) is our favorite Tunisian salad and is very popular as a first course where it was created! Every component of the salad melds together so beautifully and complements one another from the egg to the tuna to the olives and back again to the pureed vegetables. And as you might have guessed tuna is the most popular fish in Tunis (couldn’t resist telling that joke!) And besides, the colors of this salad are so beautiful and enticing it takes center stage on a family or company table, regardless of where it’s from.
However, if you are averse to very spicy food, which Tunisians like, as they spoon harissa on top of everything and which is served as a condiment at every Tunisian table, much as we would ketchup, you can certainly tone it down by adjusting the amount of hot pepper added. We were amazed when we saw the 20 foot high pyramids of dried red chile peppers the first time we visited the Nabul market, but that was before we observed how much harissa Tunisians consumed. Then the pepper pyramids made sense. But not to worry, even with just a fraction of the heat you will be sopping up the juices left behind in the bowl with your baguette in true Tunisian fashion.
salata mechouia
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
2 little red chilies, thin narrow variety (optional)
1 anaheim chile pepper
2 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Juice of ½ lemon 1 tsp. tabil spice mix (3 tab. coriander seeds, 1 ½ tab. cumin seeds, 1 tab.
caraway seeds, ½ tab. red pepper flakes –
combine in food processor or spice grinder)
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into 6 wedges each 6 - 8 large romaine lettuce leaves 1 fresh tuna steak 1 tab. lemon zest 1 tab. tabil
One dozen Nicoise olives
Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley paprika 1 tablespoon olive oil to drizzle over salad
-Seed bell peppers, place on cookie sheet along with onion quarters under broiler for about 15 minutes, turning as each side becomes charred, roughly 5 minutes on each side. Ten minutes into the bell pepper broiling time, add the tomatoes to the pan.
-15 minutes into the broiling, add the chilies and garlic cloves to the pan. Remove vegetables from the pan once they are blackened on all sides
and place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap. Remove all vegetables from the broiler and let vegetables cool, at least 10 minutes in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
-Next, carefully peel any charred skin off the tomatoes, bell peppers and chilies. Once peeled, and cooled enough to handle, place all vegetables on a cutting board and roughly chop to a chunky-puree consistency. Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, 1 tab. olive oil, lemon juice and tabil. Place in serving bowl. Drizzle olive oil all over the surface so that there is a thin film of oil atop the mechouia. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes.
-Rub the tuna steak with spice mixture of 1 tab. tabil, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Place 1 tab. oil in heavy frying pan and heat to high. Add tuna steak and sear on one side for 1 minute. Turn steak and turn the heat to medium and sear on other side for 1 minute. Set aside for 5 minutes. Slice thinly.
-Line salad bowl or platter with lettuce leaves to create a bed for the salad. Spoon the chilled salad onto the middle of the leaves and flatten out a bit. Arrange tuna slices along center of the salad then garnish with egg slices and olives. Sprinkle a bit of finely chopped parsley and paprika on top of salad. Finally, drizzle a bit of olive oil over the whole salad. Serve with fresh baguettes and lemon wedges. Serves 6 - 8.
(Serve chilled or at room temperature.)
Place cut veggies on cooking sheet pan.
Roasted veggies should be blackened under broiler.
A beautiful, enticing salad - great for entertaining!
The flavors of each part of the salad complement each other so well. The silky texture of the veggies with oil and the smoky flavor create a uniquely delicious salad or frist course.
PERSNICKETY NOTES:
**The directions given in the recipe for charring the peppers is a great way to peel peppers. Follow these directions whenever a recipe you're preparing calls for peeling peppers.
**Some like it hot…some do not! If you like a tamer version of a spicy salad, leave out the 2 small red peppers. The heat from the Anaheim chile will probably be enough just to give you a bit of a kick. But if you like it hot, go for the red peppers. You may even want to add a tablespoon of Harissa to make it as hot as Tunisians like it, which they make from the hot red peppers they grow there.
**The most common bread eaten in Tunisia is baguettes or French bread due to the fact that it was a French colony for many years, until the 1950s. We never saw pita bread or American bread during our time in Tunis.
