Broiled Vegetables Add Smoky Taste To Middle Eastern Salade Nicoise

Broiling or grilling vegetables does more than just tenderize them. It brings out their natural sugars and imparts a slightly smoky taste.

Although it is a time-consuming step, broiling so transforms flavors that it is well worth doing when vegetables are the centerpiece of a meal.

Anne Marie Weiss-Armush features several recipes with roasted vegetables in her charming book, “The Arabian Delights Cookbook” (Lowell House, 1994). In North Africa, salad vegetables are frequently lightly roasted over a cooking fire, she writes. The technique is especially useful in composed salads, where well-developed flavors are more important than crisp textures.

Weiss-Armush provides a recipe for Tunisian Salade Nicoise in which green peppers, tomatoes, onions and chiles are all roasted and peeled. The tender, sweet vegetables are combined with tuna, feta cheese and eggs and are dressed with a tangy lemon vinaigrette dressing.

In this adaptation of her recipe, I substituted canned salmon for the tuna. Salmon’s attractive pink color and rich taste are well-suited to this dish. Since the jalapeno chile can make the salad hotter than expected, I recommend serving it with bread or with Pita Toasts.

Middle Eastern Salade Nicoise

1 medium green pepper

2 large plum tomatoes

1 bunch green onions, including trimmed white parts and first 2 inches of green parts

1 medium jalapeno chile

2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon Spanish paprika

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt

1 (3- to 4-ounce) can salmon, drained and flaked

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 hard-cooked egg, chopped

1/4 cup pitted olives

Place green pepper, tomatoes, onions and chile on broiler pan and brush lightly with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Place 2 to 3 inches from heat in preheated broiler to blacken lightly on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove from broiler.

Place vegetables in paper bag, close and set aside 15 minutes. Peel green pepper, core and seed. Cut into 1/2 -inch dice. Peel tomatoes, core, seed and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Peel off transparent skins from onions. Cut into 1-inch lengths. Peel, core, seed and mince jalapeno chile. Combine vegetables in shallow bowl or deep platter.

Stir together remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, paprika, pepper and salt to taste in small cup. Pour half of dressing over vegetables and toss gently but well. Arrange salmon in center of vegetables. Sprinkle with feta cheese, egg and olives. Spoon remaining dressing on top.

Yield: 2 servings.

Pita Toasts

2 pita breads

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, smashed

Cut pita breads into quarters to make 8 pieces. Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and saute over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Place pita quarters in skillet and brown 30 seconds on each side. Transfer to baking sheet. Toast at 325 degrees 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Yield: 2 servings.