Meatless Mondays: Salade Mechouia

Some of you know I have traveled all over growing up due to my Father's job. I was actually born in Tunisia and thanks to such my Mother learned how to cook quite a few amazing dishes from Tunisia. I left Tunisia when I was about 2 years old so never really had any recollections. My Parents told me how Arabic was my first language, how when Mahmood would take me to the fish market I would stuff a whole live fish in my mouth and the poor thing tried to get out, and how each time they would ask what I wanted to eat my answer was always the same "peixu" (a term I apparently I made up from the Portuguese word Peixe meaning fish) from breakfast to dinner. So my love for fish really started early.

I was lucky enough to have gone back for our honeymoon and discovered why my Parents loved this country and culture so much. The people were amazingly nice, the food outstanding, the monuments breathtaking and of course the beaches stunning.

Salade Mechouia is a favorite during the summer months. Apart from being pretty to look at it tastes amazingly. Last Friday we had a couple friends of ours who like to try all types of foods so it was the perfect occasion to make it.

INGREDIENTS

2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
4 tomatoes
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
2 hard boiled eggs
1 can of high quality tuna (if at all possible in olive oil)
4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
pepper or dry chili peppers (depending on hot hot you want to make it)
sea coarse salt to taste
black or green olives to decorate

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic over the grill or broil them in the oven
2. Keep an eye on them and once nicely toasted from all sides remove them and peel them carefully as well as removing their seeds
3. Cut them all very finely and mix them all in a deep plate with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper
4. Make a hole in the middle and add the tuna in there
5. Decorate with egg quarters and olives
6. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or so prior to serving