Oct 6, 2016  By Jewish National Fund  Category: Blueprint Negev,

In the JNF kitchen: Colorful salad featuring flavors of the Arava desert

After all those rich, complex meals on Rosh Hashanah, this #RecipeOfTheWeek is a nice, simple salad coming to us from the Central Arava Regional Council. The Arava is a key focus of JNF's Blueprint Negev initiative, which aims to bring communities to Israel's south, away from the congested, highly priced center of the country.

The Central Arava is a wonderful place to visit, live, raise a family -- and run a farm! What residents in the area lack in natural resources, they make up for in ingenious agricultural solutions. All year round, the tastiest peppers, artichokes, melons, and cucumbers come out of the Central Arava.

From the Arava farms to your plate, make a fresh, great salad with Arava flavors and have a shana tova! 

More on the Central Arava:
The magic that is life in the Arava desert: One family's story
Lost in the Arava desert, and (uh-oh!) late to the JNF bus

Enjoy this #RecipeOfTheWeek, and if you make any of these recipes, be sure to send a photo of your creation to teddyherzl18@gmail.com or tweet it to @JNFUSA with the hashtag #JNFfoodie. We might share it! 

Ingredients 

Salad:

Cherry tomatoes
Red onion, cut into rings
Eggplant, sliced and roasted 
Roasted peppers 
Pomegranate seeds
Baby greens
Mango, diced

Dressing:

2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons spoons wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
3 teaspoons (or more, to taste) honey
3 teaspoons (or more, to taste) silan (date syrup)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over the assembled salad ingredients. So simple and delicious!