Green Pepper and olive salad

May 26, 2010  •  Category:

Everybody in Beirut goes to the mountains when the heat and humidity of the summer first hits, around July, and you see narrow winding  mountain roads teeming with cars piled up with mattresses and all manner of odds and ends for the summer getaway trip that lasts until September.

So, here I was with my grandmother in this nice hotel, and I would take meals with her; the tables at the hotel were covered with white linen tablecloth; every table had plate and silverware and a small dish of olives, along with a bag of pita bread.


One table had, in addition to that, a small dish with a green pepper in it. Every day. A green pepper on a small plate. I was so intrigued. I asked: ” Why does this table have the green pepper and we don’t?”

” Because the gentleman requested a green pepper on his table” I was told.

” Why?”

” Because he likes to eat green pepper”

The gentleman in question was a retired bachelor and he liked to eat his green pepper with his olives and bits of pita bread, every day, before his meal.

This totally trivial episode stuck with me and one day, I decided to check out the green pepper and olives with pita idea.

I fell in love with it.

Now I buy green pepper and cut big chunks and put an olive on it and eat this with some pita bread and it makes me happy.

Salad consists of shredded carrots; diced Armenian cucumbers; olives; chopped parsley.

Dressing is the usual lemon juice, olive oil combo with a smidgeon of mashed garlic and some grated fresh ginger.

Comments

84 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Vagabonde says:

    I’ll try the green pepper with olives, that sounds good. I have been looking at your past recipes and salivating! The problem is I live in a suburb of Atlanta and many of the ingredients you mention cannot be found around here, like the Bulgarian Cheese, Puck and Armenian cucumbers. I feel pretty lucky when I find decent lamb you know, people are not too adventurous in our county – mostly southern cooking, with lots of fried food, fried tomatoes, fried chicken, fried veggies, etc.

  2. Suman says:

    enjoy reading your post every time…too good….:)

    Green pepper salad looks healthy and delicious..

  3. Turkish Food Passion says:

    I like this salad and love the way it is presented!

  4. Sylva says:

    Refreshing and light!!! I remember summers spent in Bolonia (Bologna?)… Carefree childhood years…

  5. I Sicilian says:

    What I great idea to serve the salad inside the beautiful natural pepper. You have given me a great idea. Thanks for sharing your creativity

  6. Barbara says:

    What lovely, tempting photos, Joumana! No wonder you wanted your own green pepper! I’ve always loved eating slices of ice cold green pepper…and your idea of the carrot salad and olives is perfect!

  7. Anita says:

    OH such a cute charming memory, I would be smiling too 🙂 And the salad looks delightful as usual.

  8. Grapefruit says:

    sounds delish and i love the idea of serving it inside the bell pepper. wonderful presentation.

  9. Choosy Beggar Tina says:

    This looks so healthy and fresh! We’re having a heat wave right now and it’s totally getting me down, but a crispy fresh salad like this would put wind back in those sails without the sluggish regrets!

  10. SYLVIA says:

    Nutritious life doesn’t have to be complicated, everyone wants to be a calm cool hostess not juggle pots and pans around, this is tasty, colorful and clean, excellent for a diet regimen. carrots are good source of beta carotene which turns vitamin A into your body. Nice job Joumana.

  11. Ivy says:

    I love green peppers but sometimes they upset my stomach and now prefer the other colours which are milder and sweeter but the salad does sound very refreshing.

  12. Sushma Mallya says:

    I love bell peppers too esp the green one….gives nice flavour and this one looks too good and very beautiful

  13. Laura says:

    You should be a food stylist. Your presentation is amazing.

  14. MaryMoh says:

    Wow…beautiful presentation. Looks like a treasure box to me….a healthy one 😀

  15. Katerina says:

    Most of the times simple things amaze us with their headen astonishing taste. It looks great and I am sure it tastes great.

  16. Priya says:

    Beautiful salad, love both pepper and olive in salads..

  17. tobias cooks! says:

    Sounds good. I like green peppers too. Nice combination of tastes.

  18. Cherine says:

    Looks wonderful 🙂

  19. oum mouncifrayan says:

    simple mais trop bien présenté à la joumana..lol
    bravo

  20. Not Quite Nigella says:

    Hehe too clever! Well you know curiousity is usually rewarded and in your case rewarded with a lovely new food combination! 🙂

  21. Simply Life says:

    what a beautiful and healthy salad!

  22. kim says:

    That’s a cute little edible bowl you got there. 🙂 SO healthful!

  23. elra says:

    Such a pretty salad (as the one who created it), very nicely presented as well.

  24. Amy @ cookbookmaniac says:

    This would sit very happily next to a perfectly grilled steak. Yum!

  25. Magdalena says:

    Simple, but delicious; funny story about this guy and “his” pepper !

  26. stacey snacks says:

    Green peppers cause indigestion for me, but I will be trying this salad w/ red bell peppers instead!!! I love the cute story.

  27. 5 Star Foodie says:

    A beautiful salad, I love that you serve it in the green pepper!

  28. Patty Price says:

    Your recipe for green peppers looks amazing and I love reading about Summer and heat! I am so tired of gray skies and rain, thanks for brightening up my day!

  29. Anna says:

    Wow, you have a lovely site, beautiful pictures and delicious recipes. I’m glad I found it. The Pepper salad looks amazing. 🙂

  30. Rachana Kothari says:

    You make simple things look so good, Jou 🙂 Lovely Salad!

  31. Sridevi says:

    Very nutritious combo of bell pepper and olives…Lovely picture.

  32. 12th Man says:

    I need an emoticon for “yum.” Because I spend so much time telling you how good everything here looks, I need to become more time conscious and efficient.

  33. citronetvanille says:

    Il est trop beau ton poivron farci! je trouve les poivrons verts un peu trop forts par rapport aux rouges, mais cette salade est vraiment très appétissante et surtout très fraiche. Ah les souvenirs d’enfance, ce sont les plus précieux.

  34. alwayswinner786 says:

    Lovely pictures! Healthy and very fresh summer salad!

  35. radia says:

    mais joumana,comment tu fait pour faire toute ses merveilles? que de belle recettes, aussi fraiche l’une que l’autre, bravo et bisou

  36. Stevie says:

    This salad looks wonderful! And it sounds simple to make, too. Hegui makes all of our salads so I’ve very little experience with them. Thanks for the great service idea!

  37. sheryl@crispywaffle says:

    Super-cute idea to put the salad in a green pepper. Gotta try that one.

  38. Koko says:

    Soo cute to have it in the little green pepper!

  39. lisa says:

    First of all, your first photo is gorgeous. Such a pretty presentation. I love this salad– fresh, crisp, and healthy. And simple. I love simple.

    What a sweet memory as well, Joumana.

  40. Julie says:

    La présentation de ta salade est superbe, pleine de fraicheur. Décidément, je ne me lasse pas de parcourir ton blog, j’y trouve plein de jolies et bonnes choses…
    Gros bisous!

  41. Jen_from_NJ says:

    I love this salad in a green pepper idea!

  42. Amber @Almost Vegan says:

    Simply gorgeous! Reminds me of a carrot salad I made awhile back. For some reason I love the combo of olives and carrots.

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