• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Cardamom and Tea
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Cookbook
  • About
  • Subscribe

Jerusalem salad

June 28, 2017 by Kathryn Pauline 8 Comments

Jerusalem salad is dead simple. You dice up cucumbers and tomatoes (with a few other veggies, depending on who’s cooking). You dress it simply, and you serve it. But there’s one small problem I’ve always had when making Jerusalem salad: moisture.

how to make sure your Jerusalem salad doesn’t end up soggy

The problem: These ingredients have a ton of water in them, and when you add salt and dressing, they start leaking everywhere. After about 5 minutes, the dressing is completely watered down and your veggies are swimming in a sea of diluted lemon juice.

You could add extra lemon juice to compensate, and just use a slotted spoon to serve it. Or you could leave the salt out until the last minute.

But my favorite solution is simple and extremely effective. Macerate the veggies with some salt for about an hour, strain them, and then dress the salad. The veggies maintain their crunch, but break down just the slightest bit, and the dressing stays in place and does its job effectively.

salads of the Middle East

If you’re looking for other Middle Eastern salads, don’t forget about tabbouleh, fattoush, beet salad, and many more. Tabbouleh is certainly the most popular Middle Eastern salad in the US, but don’t underestimate Jerusalem salad’s ubiquity worldwide. Israeli chef Yottam Ottolenghi and Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi, explain this dish’s ubiquity:

“It is impossible to count the number of cultures and subcultures residing in this city. Jerusalem is an intricate, convoluted mosaic of peoples. It is therefore very tempting to say there isn’t such a thing as a local cuisine. However, if you take a step back and look at the greater picture, there are some typical elements that are easily identifiable in most local cuisines and crop up throughout the city. Everybody, absolutely everybody, uses chopped cucumber and tomatoes to create an Arab salad or an Israeli salad, depending on point of view.”

Print

Jerusalem salad

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 5 Persian cucumbers
  • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper (can substitute red or green)
  • 5 roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 cup minced red onions (from about 1/4 of a medium onion)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • The juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons finely minced parsley, divided into 2 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon
  • More salt to taste (optional)

Instructions

  1. Small dice the cucumbers, bell pepper, and tomatoes, and combine in a big serving bowl.
  2. Toss together with the sea salt and refrigerate for an hour.
  3. After an hour has gone by, strain the salad through a fine mesh colander, discarding the liquid. Do not press the salad against the colander, but gently shake the colander a few times to drain away the excess liquid. *
  4. Place the salad back in the bowl, add the red onion, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons minced parsley, and more salt to taste (optional), and toss to coat.
  5. Garnish with the 1 tablespoon minced parsley.

Notes

* To make ahead, strain the salad after an hour, store in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours, and then strain again right before dressing and serving. You can even do this a day ahead of time, but the vegetables will soften significantly and the texture of the final dish will be very different.

If you’re looking for a variation on this salad, try my recipe for watermelon Jerusalem salad, which is prepared in much the same way. I’ve also got a lovely recipe for Jerusalem salad pico de gallo.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!

Filed Under: appetizers, breakfast, dairy free, dinner, every recipe, family recipes, gluten free, lunch, salads, vegan, vegetarian Tagged With: bell pepper, cucumber, herbs, lemon, middle eastern, parsley, peppers, tomato

Previous Post: « kale fattoush
Next Post: ingredient highlight: pomegranate molasses »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Simon

    August 14, 2021 at 10:55 am

    This salad is light, healthy, easy to make, and colorful. You couldn’t ask for anything more!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Kathryn Pauline

      August 14, 2021 at 1:41 pm

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!

      Reply
  2. M

    July 15, 2019 at 9:00 am

    As a mom to a six year old, I always joke with my child that the only thing that unites all Israelis, but probably all Palestinian as well is that we fight over the salad "juice"! We have this salad every evening and for us the answer is to make it as close as possible to when we are eating (10 minutes or so before) and then drink the resulting "juice" straight from the bowl. Its a good day when there is enough "juice" for everyone. One Israeli top chef even made a molecular dish that encapsulated this salad "juice" and had people talking about it for days.

    Reply
    • Kathryn Pauline

      August 2, 2019 at 11:32 am

      You know, now that I think of it, my Palestinian friends totally make their Jerusalem salad juicier than mine, and it’s super delicious! The juice is so wonderful for dabbing with some samoon or pita. I still prefer straining mine, but totally, totally get the appeal.

      Reply
  3. Gino

    July 27, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    You need to add just a slight bit of mint! 🙂 Coming from an Iraqi family (Chaldean), your recipes are amazing! Super excited to try a few of these, especially the Gaimar which is usually listed as needing to be baked for way too long. Thanks for doing what you do!

    Reply
    • Kathryn Pauline

      July 28, 2018 at 8:41 am

      Ooh yes, it’s absolutely delicious with mint! Dried or fresh, yum! Thanks so much for your very kind words–I bet your family has amazing food 🙂

      Reply
  4. Michelle

    May 24, 2018 at 12:31 am

    Would keeping the veges in salt for some time to extract their water also extract some of the nutrients? Also when veges are chopped up and left for some time before eating, the nutrients also diminish very quickly, so how nutritious are they then I wonder? It is a tricky situation when we need as much nourishment as possible from our meals!

    Reply
    • Kathryn Pauline

      May 25, 2018 at 2:45 am

      An interesting point! I’ve never had a vitamin deficiency and eat a ton of fruits and veggies every day, so I’m not worried for myself personally, but if you are worried about it, by all means feel free to skip the brine step! It’ll be delicious either way 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

photo of Kathryn Pauline holding A Dish for All Seasons cookbook

Welcome! I’m Kathryn Pauline, recipe developer and photographer here at Cardamom and Tea, where I hope you’ll find something delicious to make.

I love creating recipes inspired by seasonal produce, community, and the Middle Eastern food I grew up with.

Browse my recipe archives, where you’ll find hundreds of delicious and reliable favorites.

My first cookbook, A Dish for All Seasons is now available wherever books are sold!

cookbook a dish for all seasons, on a blue gingham table cloth

Footer

read our privacy policy

© 2017 - 2022 Kathryn Pauline