The one about the Vegetarian at the Barbecue

Today is Independence Day.  Israel is 63 years young.  What to do?  B-B-Q!

Israeli Independence Day is a Festival of Flaming Meat.

Needless to say, I am always assigned The Salad.  But that’s OK, because I ROCK salad.

The following is the salad I make and eat every single live long day.  I got the recipe from my friend Meirav.  It has no oil or salad dressing, tastes surprisingly delicious and stays crisp and fresh in the heat.

Meirav’s Israeli Salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed, dried and finely chopped

3 tomatoes, diced

3 Israeli cucumbers, peeled and diced (in the US these are often called Persian cucumbers or you can use Kirbys or one of those long English ones)

2 green onions, minced

1 handful fresh parsley, minced

1 handful fresh mint, minced

1 handful fresh cilantro (cusbara), minced (optional)

1/3 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds, dry toasted in a pan or toaster oven just until they start to color and become fragrant

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and freshly ground pepper

Note:  Israelis like their salad chopped small, small.  It’s sort of a national obsession actually and it yields an explosion of vegetable flavor.  I do my best but cannot compete with native-born chopping skill.

Also, don’t add the sunflower seeds until shortly before serving.

We also grilled these tiny sweet peppers and then ate them like lollipops.  They were so good!  We did little onions like that too.

And I brought a few veggies burgers for myself.  Folks asked me lots of questions last time about what kind I buy, so here ya go:

Sea, sun, food, family, fun, and living free in our beautiful homeland…  Life is wonderful today!

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