Mechouia salad (roast vegetables and tuna) (Tunisian)

This salad is supposed to be served cold, after at least 30 minutes of chilling in the fridge, in summertime. A very popular Tunisian treat, it tastes very flavorful from the roasted vegetable base and quite hearty from the addition of tuna and hard boiled eggs. Because of this hearty taste we like to have it in the winter as well. It takes some time to make considering oven-roasting all the veggies, but the result is impressive and delicious enough to be worth it.
It can also be served as a spread on toast, topped with the tuna and the egg. Enjoy.
Adapted from various sources on the internet, mostly here. 


Last year: Melanzane alla parmigiana (Italian eggplant, mozzarella and Parmesan casserole),  Pancetta and artichoke pizza and Mozarella, tomato and basil salad. 

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1/2 a green, a red and a yellow bell pepper 
• 1 red bell pepper
• about half an eggplant (3 thick slices)
• 1 large red onion
• 1 large white onion
• 1 garlic head
• 3 large tomatoes
• 3 eggs
• about half a jar of black olives
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can of tuna in water (150 g drained)

First, chop up the veggies. The onions into quarters, the bell peppers in halves (seeds removed), the eggplant in thick slices, the tomatoes whole and the garlic head wrapped up in aluminium. Put them on a large baking sheet and into the oven at 200 degrees C.

Keep them baking for about 50 minutes (turning the bell peppers on the other side half-way through). Meanwhile, hard-boil the eggs and peel them. When the veggies are done, put them on a colander to drain:

Peel the hardened (and bitter) skin from the bell peppers and the soft skin from the tomatoes and chop them into cubes (into a main salad bowl). Also remove any bits that seem to hardened from the onions and chop them too, along with the eggplant slices (no need to peel those). Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the softened garlic paste from the cloves into the bowl:

Season with the olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano and mix well:

You can serve the salad in the main bowl, or use individual serving bowls, like we did. Just top up with the drained tuna meat and egg slices and dig in! :)