Israeli Salad

When we were looking to buy a house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, my husband insisted the backyard had to have a garden or at least room to create one. This became a deal breaker with many of the homes we looked at because square footage behind your house is hard to come by in the highly populated burbs of LA.

After 5 years of looking, yes, 5 long years of searching for a place to live, (I thought our real estate agent was going to hide from us in a witness protection program), we finally found a house with an adorable, little rectangle of a garden in back. That garden has become my savior in terms of supplying me with fresh, flavorful, vegetables ripe for the picking whenever I feel like living off the land.

Thanks to this garden, I created a quick and easy Israeli salad one day that came out way better than anyone ever expected. I know, it's just a salad, but...you'll see, I provide the recipe below.

ISRAELI SALAD

By Debbie Adler

Serves 2 - 4

Must Have

Salad

1 pound cherry tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 pound Persian cucumbers, diced

1 small red onion, finely diced

1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon grade B maple syrup

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Must Do

1)   To make the salad, add the tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and parsley to a large bowl.

2)   To make the vinaigrette, whisk the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup and black pepper together in a small bowl.

3)   Add the vinaigrette to the salad and toss to combine.

Serving size: 1 cup CALORIES 40; TOTAL FAT 0.3g; PROTEIN 1.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0g; SODIUM 6.5mg; FIBER 2.5g; SUGARS 0.9g; TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE 7.8g