
My family waits all year long -- filled with anticipation for that part of the gardening season when there is an abundance of fresh ripe home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers just so that we can make Israeli Salad. The combination of these fruits with green olives, onions, sweet peppers, lemon juice and herbs is quite extraordinary -- you just can't imagine how good this is until you taste it. No matter how large of a bowl of this I make, my family continues to have seconds, thirds and more until every last bit is gone.
Normally I do not measure any of the ingredients -- so don't feel that you need to either -- just make the cucumbers and the tomatoes the major ingredients, and don't overdo the onions. Taste it frequently as you mix in the herbs, lemon juice and olives to get the taste just the way you like it. But here are some measurements -- just in case you'd like to follow a recipe.
Normally I do not measure any of the ingredients -- so don't feel that you need to either -- just make the cucumbers and the tomatoes the major ingredients, and don't overdo the onions. Taste it frequently as you mix in the herbs, lemon juice and olives to get the taste just the way you like it. But here are some measurements -- just in case you'd like to follow a recipe.
Ingredients:
3 cups fresh chopped tomatoes (large or cherry tomatoes work fine.)
3 cups cut up fresh cucumber (slice into circles and then quarter each circle)
1 cup diced red or yellow sweet peppers
1/2 cup very finely diced red onion
1 bunch of scallions chopped fine (green and white parts)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 TBS onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 8 oz jar of green olives
Directions:
1) Place the tomatoes, cucumbers peppers, onions, and scallions into a large bowl and mix well. Drizzle with the lemon juice, sprinkle with onion powder and thyme and mix well with a large spoon.
2) Place the jar of olives into a blender -- with all the liquid too and pulse it just a few times to barely chop them up. Alternatively, you could pour the olives through a strainer -- saving the liquid and then place the olives on a cutting board and chop them with a knife.
2) Add all of the olives and the juice that they were in to the bowl and mix well. Mix again right before serving.
3 cups fresh chopped tomatoes (large or cherry tomatoes work fine.)
3 cups cut up fresh cucumber (slice into circles and then quarter each circle)
1 cup diced red or yellow sweet peppers
1/2 cup very finely diced red onion
1 bunch of scallions chopped fine (green and white parts)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 TBS onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 8 oz jar of green olives
Directions:
1) Place the tomatoes, cucumbers peppers, onions, and scallions into a large bowl and mix well. Drizzle with the lemon juice, sprinkle with onion powder and thyme and mix well with a large spoon.
2) Place the jar of olives into a blender -- with all the liquid too and pulse it just a few times to barely chop them up. Alternatively, you could pour the olives through a strainer -- saving the liquid and then place the olives on a cutting board and chop them with a knife.
2) Add all of the olives and the juice that they were in to the bowl and mix well. Mix again right before serving.