A typical Palestinian brunch of Arabic salad, fried cheese and parsley and potato omelette to set you up for the day!

Serves 4 for breakfast

Arabic Salad

A lot of small chopping is involved here. It should look a bit like a salsa by the end so a sharp knife is important!

It is worth the effort though. It is my favourite salad and particularly so at breakfast time. There is always lots of lemony, olive oil that mixes with the tomato juice in the bowl for some serious dipping at the end.

Ingredients

1 bunch of Parsley
1 white onion
4 tomatoes
Juice of 2 small lemons or 1 large, zest optional
2 tsp salt
100 ml extra virgin olive oil

Directions: –

Skin the tomatoes, remove the core and seeds and finely chop. Retain all the juice. Finely chop the onion and then the parsley and combine. Dress with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and salt.

Leave for at least 30 minutes for the salad to take on a lovely layer of juice at the bottom for dipping the bread.

Fried cheese 

The Palestinian cheese is saltier and firmer than halloumi. I have not found it in the UK; halloumi is the best alternative!

Generally for Middle Eastern groceries in London try Green Valley supermarket on Edgware road or the Turkish / Indian shops have a great array of produce particularly around Hackney.

Ingredients

75 ml olive oil
1 block of halloumi
Honey (optional)

Directions: –

Cut the cheese in to reasonably thick slices, if they are too thin they will possibly start to disintegrate and split apart or end up like cheese ‘chips’ aka hard all the way through.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan, not too much oil and no high sided pans or you will end up poaching the cheese and it will melt in to a goo….a tasty one but still a goo.

Use medium heat, as you want it to brown the cheese to a light golden crust. When the golden crust has been achieved turn it and do the same on the other side. Take it off the heat and put in a dish with some honey on the side for sweet and salt satisfaction.

Potato & parsley omelette

Ingredients

8 eggs
1/2 bunch finely chopped parsley
1 large potato
1 large onion
1 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp salt
100 ml olive oil

Peel and chop the potato to a fine dice. Simmer in a pan of salted water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

Finely chop the onion and fry in a large frying pan with half the olive oil and the spices. Add the potatoes and fry until they have a light golden colour.

Beat the egg until it bubbles with the parsley and 2 tsp salt. Add the onion and potato mix to the egg and mix together.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan and pour in the mixture. Cook on a medium heat. Turn up the underside and once it is golden, switch off the heat, grab a plate, place on the top of the frying plan (wear gloves) and flip the pan so that the omelette is on the plate with the cooked side exposed. Then carefully slide the omelette back into the pan and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve the omelette with the fried cheese and salad