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Home » Preserved Lemons

Tasting Jerusalem: Celebrating Summer with Salad

by Beth Lee · Published: Jul 16, 2013 · Modified: Feb 19, 2021

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Tasting JerusalemTo write a successful food blog, you have to cook, write, photograph, socialize, and eat. Mostly, this summer, I've been eating. Maybe you've noticed my less frequent blog posts. Don't assume it's for lack of content. Oh no. I've been gathering lots and lots of content. While you were all dutifully preserving your lemons from scratch for our Tasting Jerusalem June topic, I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma, too busy with high school graduation and my milestone birthday to get a jar started in time. (But I did learn all about hibiscus margaritas!)

And while you were all enjoying the fruits of your lemon preservation, I was wandering the hillsides of Sorrento, Italy, marveling at their two-tiered combo lemon and grape gardens and eating and drinking the harvest from these gardens as frequently as my appetite would allow. And in one of these hillside gardens, lived a delightful Italian “mama” and cooking teacher named Lucia. As we enjoyed a glass of her homemade limoncello, I had the pleasure of telling her about preserved lemons. Her eyes held mine in fascination as I explained the concept of taking a fragrant Sorrento lemon and preserving its perfection in a jar. She is awaiting my email with instructions so she can try it for herself!

Tasting Jerusalem

Despite my exploits, I did manage to cook a fabulous flank steak with preserved lemon gremolata, a recipe I found on Winnie Abramson’s blog A Healthy Green Kitchen. (look for her new book coming out soon… One Simple Change) and I made Hannah Cordes' simple but luscious recipe for a chicken salad with preserved lemons on a busy night after I returned from my trip.

Tasting JerusalemTasting Jerusalem

Sarene, our fearless co-leader, cooked the Charred Okra with Preserved Lemons, pg 74 from the cookbook and suggested that green beans might be a good substitute if you’re not an okra lover – great idea! She also prepared chicken with preserved lemons and haloumi, as well as mozzarella marinated with preserved lemons, garlic and basil. She was busy cooking AND eating! (now we just need to convince her to start a blog)

Tasting Jerusalem
Photo by Sarene, our fearless co-leader

And did you see this video from Rachel of the blog La Fuji Mama showing the final steps of making preserved lemons?

Emily from the blog West of the Loop cooked her version of the Braised Eggs with Lamb, as did Susan Busch from Couscous and Consciousness, our friend from Down Under. Each of them offered some creative variations for us to consider, such as Emily's idea to substitute yogurt sumac sauce for yogurt tahini sauce to manage a nut and sesame allergy or Susan's use of her homemade green harissa as a sub for the coriander or zhoug called for to finish the dish. (photos below: (L) Emily's lemons; (R) Susan's lemons )

Tasting Jerusalem

Tasting JerusalemAnd as mentioned earlier, Hannah’s chicken salad post was the perfect transition into July as it pulled both topics together – using the preserved lemons in a simple cold salad you can prepare even on a hot summer night. (photo courtesy Blue Kale Road)

Tasting Jerusalem

July Topic: Salads!

Sarene and I thought we’d make July a salad exploration month as we all enjoy the lazy days of summer, take vacations, survive heat waves, and shuttle kids around in odd summer schedules. Seemed like the perfect time to see what Jerusalem offers for our salad plate and palate.

Have you tried the roasted cauliflower with hazelnut salad yet, pg. 62? As some of our Tasting Jerusalem community already knows, it’s a delightful and unusual combination of flavors and textures and would be great prepared ahead and then set out on a backyard buffet, for example. Or what about the zucchini and tomato salad, pg 84? If you are in the northern hemisphere, zucchini and tomatoes are plentiful and cheap and this one works well with the backyard grill. And you just have to make one of our favorites, the Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almond, pg 30. Sarene suggests topping it with grilled chicken or salmon and turning it into a main course.

Tasting Jerusalem

But we want to hear what strikes your fancy either directly from the cookbook or a variation that uses the flavors and ingredients we’ve been enjoying and learning about these past 6 months.

Tasting Jerusalem
Food Photography credit: Jonathan Lovekin © 2012

If you’re new to the group, welcome! The popular na'ama's fattoush salad recipe is available for reprint so I have included it below. This is a perfect chance to join in the cooking even if you don't have the book! And if you choose to reprint the recipe in your blog, please use the proper credit lines listed below with the recipe.

Here are our “rules” for the group (there really aren’t any except to cook and share your experiences.)

Group Guidelines:

  1. How often will we cook: We’ll pick a new set of recipes monthly to allow us all to fit in the cooking when we can and to find any ingredients that might not be available at your typical grocery store stop.
  2. Do I need to cook all the recipes?: We offer up several recipes to fit your taste buds, menus, schedules – cook as many or as few as you desire. But once you start cooking from this book, you probably won’t stop!
  3. What do I need to participate: The cookbook! Plus an interest in cooking, willingness to try new flavors, and an electronic device that communicates via the Internet. We will always post the month’s information in a blog post via omgyummy.com so you can subscribe to Beth’s blog to be guaranteed to receive it or just check in frequently via the Facebook page or Twitter hashtag #TastingJrslm
  4. How to share what you cook: Tasting Jerusalem is open to anyone. You do not have to be a blogger or food professional of any sort. But if you have a camera, we encourage you to share photos of your dishes on Twitter or the Facebook page or Instagram, using the hashtag #TastingJrslm – we all love to see the results of your kitchen adventures. New to these types of social media? Just drop me an email beth (at) omgyummy (dot) com – I’ll be glad to help you get started.
  5. What recipes can be published and how to publish: We expect to cook through most, if not all, of the recipes in the cookbook over time. As such, for those of us blogging or writing about our experiences in any way, it’s important that we don’t include the recipe in our blog posts, unless Ten Speed Press has approved its use. The goal of the group is to learn together and enrich our experience using this cookbook, not create an online version of it. We are in touch with Ten Speed Press to find out which recipes we can post. For an example of another group that writes about their cooking but doesn’t post each recipe, please visit French Fridays with Dorie. If you legitimately change a recipe, rewrite the headnote and instructions, and choose to share it, please say you’ve adapted it, giving credit to the source including a link to purchase the cookbook.
  6. What if I have questions? Sarene and I will be monitoring the Facebook page and Twitter hashtag #TastingJrslm almost continuously so just leave us a note there. If you see a question and know the answer, jump on in before us. Part of the fun of the group will be each of us sharing our own knowledge, perspectives and ideas.
  7. What to include if you write a blog post: If you do post about what you cook, please let us know – we will link to it. And feel free to post it on the Facebook page and Twitter with the #TastingJrslm hashtag. We’d also appreciate it if you would include this verbiage in the context of your post:

“Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to omgyummy.com, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, liking our Facebook page or joining our Google+ Community and finally checking out all of our groups' dishes on Pinterest."

Please include the following credit if you use the recipe and photo:

“Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.”

Photo credit: Jonathan Lovekin © 2012

Tasting Jerusalem

Na’ama’s Fattoush

This is Sami Tamimi's mom's take on a typical Israeli chopped salad, made more comforting by the creamy buttermilk dressing and the untoasted pita.
4.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 3 hrs
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 3 hrs 10 mins
Course Salad
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Servings 6 servings
Calories 325 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • scant 1 cup Greek yogurt and cup plus 
2 tablespoon / 200 ml whole milk (200 g) or 1 cups / 
400 ml buttermilk (replacing both 
yogurt and milk)
  • 2 large stale Turkish flatbread or naan 9 oz /
250 g in total
  • 3 large tomatoes 13 oz /
380 g in total, cut into
-inch / 1.5cm dice
  • 3 oz radishes (100 g) thinly sliced
  • 3 Lebanese or mini cucumbers 9 oz / 
250 g in total, peeled and chopped into
-inch / 1.5cm dice
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 1 oz fresh mint 15 g
  • scant 1 oz flat-leaf parsley (25 g) coarsely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon dried mint
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 3 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ cup olive oil (60 mL) 
plus extra to drizzle
  • 2 tablespoon cider or white wine vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground 
black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sumac or more 
to taste to garnish

Instructions
 

  • If using yogurt and milk, start at least 3 hours and up to a day in advance by placing both in a bowl. Whisk well and leave in a cool place or in the fridge until bubbles form on the surface. What you get is a kind of homemade buttermilk, but less sour.
  • Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add your fermented yogurt mixture or commercial buttermilk, followed by the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
  • Spoon the fattoush into serving bowls, drizzle with some olive oil, and garnish generously with sumac.

Notes

“Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.” Photo credit: Jonathan Lovekin © 2012

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 5gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 685mgPotassium: 428mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 890IUVitamin C: 20.8mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 1.2mg
Keyword fattoush recipe, fattoush salad
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

More Preserved Lemons

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  • chicken and vegetables on white plate with lemon napkin
    Harissa Chicken with Preserved Lemons
  • straight down beauty shot of preserved lemon hummus in blue bowl
    Preserved Lemon Hummus
  • dressing in wooden bowl with preserved lemon jar
    Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

Reader Interactions

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  1. Mandi Noel

    July 21, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    I loved reading about your visit to Italy! Homemade limoncello in Italy? Oh my, you have made me swoon!

    That salad also looks so refreshing and delicious! I may have to give it a try!

    Reply
    • Beth Lee

      July 21, 2013 at 4:08 pm

      Hi Mandi, Thanks for stopping by. The homemade limoncello was so good I am afraid to open up the bottle I brought home for fear it just won't measure up! And I do hope you'll consider trying some of the recipes from our Tasting Jerusalem group -- buy the cookbook and join the fun! We are learning so much about some fascinating new ingredients and we all help each other along. Come back and visit again soon ok?

      Reply
  2. Charlotte

    July 21, 2013 at 9:17 am

    What a mouthwatering and delicious post. I am so excited about your European culinary travels. There really is nothing like it, than tasting local cuisines. And I'm curious about preserving lemons, too! I have never thought about it, but what a great idea.

    You have given me some ideas for my shopping list today. Thank you and happy weekend to you!

    Reply
    • Beth Lee

      July 21, 2013 at 4:07 pm

      Hi Charlotte! Great to hear from you! How have you been? Let me know what you pick up at the grocery store! And if you need me to point you to any preserved lemon recipes - basically, you just need lemons and salt to start and then some olive oil and any other added flavors you want. I will be writing more about my culinary travels as soon as I have time and can figure out where to start! So much to share!

      Reply
  3. [email protected]

    July 17, 2013 at 11:10 am

    4 stars
    Love to make salads this time of year, but mine nowhere as fancy as yours are and look. Mine are simple with tuna fish, salmon, or sardines. One of these days I am going to try a more fancy one with veggies etc.

    Reply
    • Beth Lee

      July 19, 2013 at 7:32 am

      You and Dad love salads so much - just switch up one ingredient or add in one new thing so it's not overwhelming but you get to experience a new flavor. Trader Joe's, where I know you shop alot, has lots of interesting ingredients to try!

      Reply
  4. Hannah

    July 16, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    What a fabulous round-up of lemony goodness, Beth! What a delicious journey you were on in Spain and Italy! And I agree, I hope Sarene starts a blog so we can enjoy more of her cooking journey. I love these variations on the Braised Eggs with Lamb - can't wait to make it again. The flank steak you made has me drooling and I'm adding it to my summer list to make. I just picked a salad recipe to make from Jerusalem, too - not an easy thing to do with so many delicious ones in the book. Thank you for sharing my chicken salad, as well. Happy summer eating!

    Reply
    • Beth Lee

      July 16, 2013 at 2:16 pm

      Thanks as always for providing inspired cooking ideas and beautiful photos, not to mention great conversation.

      Yes - we had quite an adventure in Spain and Italy - now to try to share it in a way that is not overwhelming for me or my readers! (good problem to have)

      Hope you are enjoying your summer and can't wait to see what salad you play with!

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Beth Lee. In 2010, I realized I prefer pita chips to memory chips and started this blog. My family is a mix of Jewish/Hawaiian/Korean heritage and my food reflects our diversity. My virtual kitchen is always open. Let’s cook together! 

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