Tunisian Fennel Salad Besh Besh Recipes

TANGY BEET AND FENNEL SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim the beet stems. Put the beets on a large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, and seal the foil to make a tight package. Transfer to small roasting pan. Roast the beets until they can be easily pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, rub or peel off skins.
• Meanwhile, halve and very thinly slice the fennel (we love a mandolin for this). Soak in cold water to crisp. Segment the grapefruits over another bowl, reserving the juice. Cut the segments in half.
• Whisk 2 tablespoons of the reserved grapefruit juice with the mustard, vinegar, honey, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Gradually add the oil in a steady stream to make a creamy dressing. Season with pepper to taste.
• Thinly slice the beets with a knife or on a mandolin and toss in a bowl with 3 tablespoons dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste and arrange on individual plates. Drain the fennel, dry well. Just before serving, toss the fennel, lettuce, grapefruit, and tarragon with dressing. Divide evenly and set on beets. Serve immediately.

TUNISIAN FENNEL SALAD (BESH BESH)

Steps:

• Slice fennel bulb in two pieces and clean. Remove finger-like sprouts from the top of the fennel, leaving only the bulb.
• Slice the fennel into thin pieces (I like to slice down the side to make moon-shaped pieces).
• Drizzle oil, vinegar, salt and pepper on top and toss thoroughly.
• Enjoy!

TUNISIAN GRILLED SALAD (SELATA MISHWIYA)

Steps:

• Combine olive oil, garlic, harissa, ras el hanout, ground chile pepper, salt, and pepper in a mortar; mash into a paste with a pestle.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Place tomatoes, green bell peppers, onion, and green chile peppers on the baking sheet.
• Cook under the preheated broiler, turning occasionally, until skins have blackened and insides are soft, about 10 minutes. Cool until easily handled, about 5 minutes. Peel, seed, and chop into small pieces.
• Place tomato mixture in a large bowl. Stir in garlic paste mixture slowly with a wooden spoon. Spoon onto a serving platter. Garnish with tuna, eggs, and olives. Squeeze 1 lemon wedge over platter. Arrange remaining wedges on the sides.

BEET, FENNEL AND MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place beets in medium roasting pan, add water to cover bottom of pan; cover with foil. Roast 40 to 45 minutes or until beets are tender and can be pierced with a fork or knife.
• Cool slightly; remove skin from beets and cut into wedges.
• Trim off fennel leaves and stalk; cut into very thin slices.
• Combine salad, mandarin oranges, mint, beets and fennel in large bowl. Pour dressing over salad; toss to evenly coat.
• Sprinkle cheese over salad.

TUNISIAN BEETROOT SALAD

Steps:

• cook beets in boiling water until tender, peel skin (by hand is easiest).
• cube or slice peeled beetroot and place in bowl.
• add sugar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and pinch of salt to beets. Toss to combine.
• Opt: add sliced mint (reserving small amount for garnish) toss
• refrigerate or let cool before serving.

TUNISIAN SALAD

Steps:

• Peel and chop apples and vegetables very fine.
• Mix dressing and pour over salad.
• Let stand at least 2 hours before serving.

TUNISIAN GRILLED SALAD

Steps:

• This dish can be made on the BBQ or on the Gas Hob, or using a kitchen blow torch. The method I will refer to uses the gas hob.
• Wash all the vegetables well leaving the skin on. Place inside the BBQ wire grilling cage or if you're feeling adventurous directly onto a wire cake rack set over the largest burner of your gas hob set at a medium flame.
• You may have to do this in batches but basically you want to blacken and blister the skin on the vegetables, charring them. Once they are evenly charred/blackened all over remove them from the heat and place them inside a ziplock bag. Leave them in there until all the vegetables have been charred. This makes the skins of the tomatoes and chillies slip off easily.
• Take the vegetables out and slip of the skins of the tomato and place them into a bowl, do the same for the green chillies. Remove the papery skin from the garlic and onion and then roughly chop the vegetables before either blitzing them together in a food processor, being careful not to do this too finely or using a hand mouli push them through to get a nice even consistancy. Alternatively you can do this using a large chopping board and good sharp knife, running your knife through them and mixing as you go on the board until it all comes together evenly
• Next add the turmeric, salt and ground black pepper to taste and a squeeze of lemon and a couple of tablespoons of really good olive oil. Mix well and taste. Adjust seasoning if required. Maybe more oil, maybe more lemon - the oil has to be good and this is an oil salad. If its too think you can add a little cold water but I never need to as I always leave the tomato seeds in giving more flavour and more juice.
• To serve add optional tuna or boiled egg and lots of crusty bread which you dip and scoop the yummy salad with. Fantastic with grilled lamb chops, chicken, or fish. Excellent spread onto a baguette and then loaded with cooked leftover roast chicken. Fab as a relish with burgers and however else you fancy it. I use mild large green chillies but you could always use a couple of fat green chillies and temper the flavour with a red/green or orange sweet pepper to add a more subtle note of heat.

TUNISIAN-STYLE ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• NOTE*: If using yams or potatoes, scrub well, remove skin and cut in half or thirds depending on size.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In small non-reactive bowl combine the salad dressing ingredients and whisk well. Set aside.
• In a large shallow pan, toss the cut up beets lightly with the olive oil to coat. Transfer the beets to a large baking sheet and cover the baking sheet tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake the beets for about 30 minutes or until the beets are very tender when pierced with a fork.
• Remove from oven, set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
• Then cut beets into 1/2" cubes.
• Place the prepared beets into a large salad bowl and toss lightly but thoroughly with the salad dressing to combine.

TUNISIAN TUNA AND EGG SALAD

Steps:

• Combine vinegar, olive oil, mint and harissa in a large bowl.
• Add pepper, fennel, onion and tomato with dressing and toss to combine.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Spoon salad onto plates or a serving dish.
• Top with tuna, egg, capers and olives.