The Great Chopped Cucumber

A staple on our family’s dinner table is Mediterranean chopped salad, also known as Israeli salad. The colorful mix of finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers and onions is so refreshing that in summer it is our most popular dish for lunch, supper and, yes, even breakfast. In Israel this lively salad is served with everything: with grilled chicken and fish, with falafel in pita bread or simply with a small wedge of feta cheese.

Most chopped salads are dressed with oil. I have found that fresh herbs combined with lemon juice or rice vinegar flavor the salad very nicely, and you don’t need the oil.

Everyone knows that the quality of the tomatoes is of great importance for an excellent Mediterranean salad, but this is also true of the cucumber. It may not seem like an exciting vegetable if you’ve tasted only the standard supermarket type, but there are cucumbers and there are cucumbers.

Get into a discussion of cucumbers with people from Israel, and they become passionate. “American cucumbers are inedible,” they say. They will acknowledge that the long hot-house cucumbers and the long, slim Japanese cucumbers sold in this country are better than the usual supermarket cucumbers. But their favorite is what gardening catalogs call Middle Eastern cucumbers.

In my L.A. neighborhood, they are sold in Middle Eastern produce markets and farmers markets as Persian cucumbers. They are crisp and delicately sweet and have tender skin with no trace of bitterness.

For the onion in the salad, I like sweet onions, red onions or green onions. Although it’s not classic, I often add red, yellow or green bell peppers. Other nontraditional additions are diced jicama, celery and radishes. Fresh herbs are great too, especially Italian parsley, chives and cilantro. Some friends add shredded romaine lettuce, but I find it best to keep the amount small; lettuce seems to ask for oil.

Although chopped salad is usually made solely of raw vegetables, occasionally I make some exceptions. Capers or finely diced dill pickles add a pleasing tang to the salad. And I find that grilled, peeled sweet red peppers give the salad a feeling of richness and a luscious, almost buttery accent. For a touch of heat, I add grilled peeled poblano or pasilla chiles and sometimes, for even more fire, grilled or fresh jalapen~o peppers that I chop very fine.

LOW-FAT CHOPPED SALAD (30 MINUTES OR LESS; LOW-FAT COOKING)

4 Middle Eastern cucumbers

1 small red, yellow or green bell pepper, cut into small dice

8 plum tomatoes or 4 tomatoes, cut into small dice

1/2 cup sliced celery or finely diced jicama, optional

2 tablespoons sliced chives or 2 green onions, chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 to 2 tablespoons strained lemon juice or rice vinegar

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 mini dill pickle, finely diced, or 2 teaspoons capers, optional

If you can’t find Middle Eastern or Persian cucumbers, substitute 4 pickling cucumbers, 1 thin Japanese cucumber, 1 to 2 long, hothouse cucumbers or 2 medium cucumbers.

Peel cucumbers if desired. Cut into small dice, no larger than 1/2 inch. Combine cucumbers, bell pepper, tomatoes, celery, chives and parsley.

Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in diced pickle or serve salad sprinkled with capers if desired.

4 servings. Each serving:

53 calories; 89 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 1.89 grams fiber.

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Cook’s Tips

*To dice cucumbers quickly, cut in lengthwise strips with sharp knife, then cut crosswise in dice.

*It’s easier to dice tomatoes with a serrated knife. For best results, use ripe tomatoes that are not too soft.