This Fresh Tomato, Pepper, and Onion Salad is a perfect example of the simple, fresh, delicious taste that I love about Mediterranean cuisine. When I think of Tunisia, I think of friendly people, miles of Mediterranean beaches, fields of parsley and this Fresh Tomato, Pepper and Onion Salad, also known as Selata Tounsiya! It’s hard to go anywhere in the tiniest and northernmost country in Africa without coming across this salad. It’s on pretty much every menu in the country and is a go-to recipe for most families.
Fresh Tomato, Pepper and Onion Salad is one of those salads that works with everything and is liked by everyone. It goes great with grilled meats and is also tasty scooped up as a salsa with some chips. However you serve it, you’ll love the taste of the fresh veggies bursting with flavor from the addition of olives, green apple, and mint!
Another cool thing is that this Tomato, Pepper and Onion Salad is easy and throw together. It’s just a matter of combining a few chopped vegetables with a four ingredient dressing (vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) and the ingredients are things I typically have on hand in my fridge and pantry.
When I was teaching English in Tunisia, I used to go for lunch in a little sandwich shop where I’d sometimes get a grilled chicken sandwich with a little harissa, this Tomato, Pepper and Onion Salad and fries IN it. Yep- the salad and fries IN the baguette with the chicken and it was amazing!
Variations/Additions
There are a few popular additions that I’ve seen to this salad that you can definitely add to yours. Most of the additions are for added protein- all of which are tasty! Veggie wise you can add a chopped cucumber and/or a red pepper in addition to the green pepper. Protein wise, my favorite is the addition of a can of tuna (tuna in oil preferred but optional!) Other hearty ingredients you can add with or without the tuna are eggs (two hard boiled eggs quartered or sliced and added to the finished salad) and cheese.
Fresh Tomato, Pepper and Onion Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1/4 cup olives green or black, pitted and chopped
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 1/2 an apple Any kind is delicious but I prefer Granny Smith apples
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- A pinch of dried mint
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lemon cut into wedges for serving
Instructions
- 1. Combine all the chopped vegetables in a large bowl.
- 2. Whisk together the vinegar and olive oil pour over the vegetables. Season with salt, pepper and mint.
- 3. Mix and serve!
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