WILD Food Diaries: Israeli Salad

This Summer I was lucky enough to travel to the Middle East. The food culture over there was worlds apart from anything I’ve seen back home in England. It’s the sole inspiration behind this weeks Food Diaries recipe.

Every single day I ate fresh vegetables at every meal… I even tried a cactus fruit (although I have to report, it was a bit grim…  wouldn’t recommend.)

I spent my time in Tel Aviv, a city with hundreds of vegan restaurants and thousands of vegan people. I was not surprised to hear that it has recently been named the Vegan Capital of the world! You can easily go meat-free here, surviving on pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush, roasted cauliflowers, falafel and, (let me bring your attention to the subject of this week’s article) Israeli salad. We ate this salad for lunch every day for 10 days. We bought our vegetables at markets stalls that had been picked from the fields the very same day. ‘Farm to table’ is simply a way of life here – it makes food far more appealing, not to mention, far more fresh and delicious. 

This summery, rainbow salad calls for 4 main ingredients:

1. Red onion

2. Cucumber

3. Tomatoes

4. Peppers

There isn’t a specific recipe, just follow your natural salady instincts. Finely chop all of the vegetables you want to use and mix them together in a large salad bowl. Squeeze over a dash of lemon, some olive oil and a shake of salt and pepper and it’s ready to eat! 

Happy Meat Free Monday 🍅

About the Author: Lydia Hayman is currently studying English at the University of Exeter alongside writing her Meat-Free Mondays column at Wild Magazine. See another of her amazing recipes here.