Slata Tounsia, or Tunisian Salad, also called Salade Tunisienne, is a summertime classic in Tunisia.

Unlike most American salads that involve lettuce, there is no lettuce to be seen here, just tomato, cucumber, onion, apple, jalapeno peppers and a bright dressing that brings it all together and makes it irresistible. It’s simple, yet delicious.

It can be served as is as a side dish, or as it would be served traditionally, with tuna and hard boiled eggs, and olives, making it a well-rounded meal. I’m partial to the full-meal version, although my mom would probably be making fun of me since every time I call her and she asks what we’re having for dinner tuna, eggs, or both are probably involved. Hey, they’re good for you! Very mediterranean, you find lots of eggs and tuna in Italy as well.

The most classic version of the salad doesn’t include apple, even though many in Tunisia add it. We always add it because it gives such a happy and sweet element to the salad. I thought it sounded a bit strange at first, but it works really well.

Onion breath and how to avoid the worst of it

If you, like me, love onion but are hesitant to eat it raw if you have to go out in public anytime after, you know….”heyyyyyy guysssss I just ate onion!” you’ll be happy to hear that the dressing helps to cut the strength of the onion. Yes, you’ll still have some onion breath afterwards, but the vinegar and lemon in the dressing do wonders. If you really can’t deal with the onion breath, you can try soaking the onions for a few hours or overnight in the dressing (essentially making pickled onions) to cut their oniony strength even more. This salad I probably ate several times a week last summer when I was pregnant. I craved it but couldn’t deal with the onion breath afterwards, made me gag, haha, so we would leave the onions in the dressing for at least a few hours before finishing the salad.

To further reduce the after effects, I’m just going to go ahead and share some other ideas that I gathered off the internets and found to help. Nothing is foolproof, but it does help.

Brush your teeth. This might seem obvious, but the sooner you can brush your teeth after eating onions or other insulting foods the better.
Floss your teeth. Yep, just like brushing, get out all the stuff from the cracks for the cleanest and best chance at a fresh tasting mouth.
Swish mouthwash.
Chew gum.
Eat other fruits, vegetables, and bread afterwards.
Drink lots of water. I find lemon water to be especially pleasant and offsets the onion taste nicely.
Drink milk. Kinda like when you eat spicy food, drinking milk can help flush out the taste/spice faster.

While it might be overkill to do all, my comfy little routine became brushing and flossing immediately after, drinking lemon water a few times, and chewing gum and rebrushing teeth as needed.

Anyway where were we? Oh yes, making slata tounsia. Enough villainizing the onions, who are friends.

Recipe from the husband

Slata Tounsia - Tunisian Salad

Serves 2 as a main dish or 3-4 as a side

Ingredients:

2 tsp / 10g apple cider vinegar
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp dried mint
1 red onion, diced small
2 cucumbers, diced small
2 tomatoes, diced small
1 apple, peeled if desired and diced small, optional
8 jalapeño peppers, seeds removed and diced small
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
tuna, hard-boiled eggs, olives, for serving, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl combine vinegar, lemon, and dried mint. Add the onion and mix to coat evenly. Allow to sit while you chop the rest of the vegetables and fruit.
Add cucumbers, tomatoes, apple, jalapeño peppers, and salt to taste to the bowl with the onions. Taste, adding more salt as needed.
To serve, drizzle with olive oil and arrange tuna and sliced hard-boiled eggs on top.

Jenny’s Notes:

While red onion is the best in this salad (and the prettiest!), other types of onions work as well.
red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or your favorite vinegar could be used in place of apple cider vinegar.
8 jalapeño peppers might seem like a lot, but as long as you’re careful to remove all the seeds the salad will have a light kick but should not be overly spicy. Since peppers can vary in spiciness even if they’re the same variety, it’s always smart to have tasted/used the peppers before consuming them raw so you know what you’re getting yourself into. That said, you could use other types of peppers, spicier varieties if you’re brave or milder if spicy isn’t your thing.