Slata Mechouia, Tunisian Grilled Pepper Salad
Slata mechouia is a Tunisian grilled salad, its name meaning roughly grilled or barbecued, and that is the whole method: peppers, tomatoes, and garlic charred over fire until their skins blacken, then peeled and chopped into a smoky, chunky relish. It sits at the smoky end of North African pepper dishes, distinct from the soft, cooked-down jamminess of a Moroccan taktouka, and caraway is the spice that draws the line. The char delivers the depth, and raw onion, lemon, and chile keep it bright, so no salt or oil is needed to make it sing. It is best chopped by hand and left to rest. Serve it cool, scooped with bread or piled next to a plate of grains.
Ingredients
- 3 wholes Bell peppers, mixed red and green
- 3 wholes Fresh tomatoes
- 3 cloves Garlic, unpeeled
- 1/2 whole Red onions, finely diced
- 1 whole Jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 1 tsp Caraway, toasted and ground
- 1 tsp Coriander seed, toasted and ground
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 3 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
- Char the whole peppers, tomatoes, and unpeeled garlic under a broiler or over an open flame, turning until the skins blacken and blister, 10 to 15 minutes. The char is the entire point of mechouia: it is where the smoke and depth come from, standing in for both salt and oil.
- Pile the charred vegetables in a bowl and cover for 10 minutes. The trapped steam loosens the skins so they slip off, and it finishes cooking the flesh through.
- Peel and seed the peppers and tomatoes, squeeze the garlic from its skins, and chop everything by hand into a rough, chunky mix. Hand-chopping keeps it a salad with texture rather than the smooth puree a blender would give.
- Toast and grind the caraway and coriander, then fold them through with the raw onion, chile, and lemon juice. Caraway is the spice that marks this as Tunisian rather than Moroccan, and the raw onion and acid sharpen the sweet, smoky flesh in place of salt.
- Let it sit 10 minutes for the flavors to settle, then fold in the parsley. Serve at room temperature as a mezze with whole-grain bread, or alongside a grain and a bowl of beans.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 80 calories, 3 g protein, 4 g fiber, 20 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
