Salata Frangyeh – Is a Simple Basic Salad

This is a very simple salad that consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions (optional), chopped fresh parsley and mint. with a traditional dressing consisting of lemon, olive oil, and salt.

Salata frangyeh literally translates to Foreign salad. Which is a basic simple salad that consists of only a few ingredients. What differentiates this salad from the Arabic traditional salad is that in Arabic salad the vegetables are chopped more finely.

One important ingredient that brings so much flavor and makes this salad extra special is fresh mint (na’na’ in Arabic نعنع).

This salad was often made at our household. My mother loved to make it since it can be prepared and chopped quickly and ready before our meal. We always enjoyed it next to dishes that consist of rice like mahshi, malfouf or ma’loubeh.

I remember when my mother used to make this salad she always made sure to add fresh mint. She would always call upon me while she’s prepping this salad to get her some fresh mint from our backyard. She had mint planted and made sure to nurture it throughout the year.

As a teenager, I always made attempts to convince her that it’s ok to make the salad without the mint. I was feeling lazy to get up, go outside and pick some. But every time she would insist that the fresh mint was essential with this salad and never made the salad without it.  Then I would ask her, how much do you need?  She would respond only a few leaves saying: “a little bit of mint goes a long way.”

Years later I realized the idea behind my mother’s conviction of using fresh mint with this salad, and the flavor that mint brings to the Salad. So, today the smell and taste of this salad with my fresh mint take me back to my mother’s salad and her fresh mint. Yes indeed just a few leaves do go a long way.

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