Kachumbari Salad

Simple recipe, simple directions, stellar taste. My pound of ripe tomatoes translated as 5 rather large plum tomatoes. I used a small red onion, which weighed about 100 grams (3 to 4 ounces). Though I don’t mind raw red onion, I wanted to temper the “bite” because I hoped the children would feast on it, too. I pickled the onion slices in some lime juice and salt, because I wanted a bit more crunch than the suggested hot salty water would give. The onions really worked well contrasting the soft, juicy tomato, which I cut into dice. I used a small green chile which brought some welcome heat to the salad, but it is the cilantro that holds it all together. I served this with spicy sweet chicken wings and we ate our way to bliss. Leftovers can easily be blitzed to create a gazpacho-type soup, or a simple sauce, similar to one Ghanaians eat with tilapia, fresh off the grill. Or you might heat it to form a barely-cooked Kenyan salsa. A great addition to my repertoire of “sides.”

This was simple to prepare with easy-to-find ingredients. I used a variety of hothouse heirloom tomatoes, as local tomatoes aren’t in season yet. I also opted not to use the chile in deference to a couple of my tasters. I diced the tomatoes and used a half lemon to get just the right amount of tang. The addition of the cilantro was very nice. (One taster dislikes cilantro, but even he liked it in this salad.) Everyone loved the simplicity of this salad and how refreshing it was. I know that this will be even better in the summer when tomato season finally arrives. There isn’t much I’d do to change this. I can’t wait to make this again for myself with lime juice and the chile. Simple, refreshing, and so good to eat. This is fabulous!

This is one of my favorite salads and a constant on my table. I have always made it with vinegar, however, what a delightful surprise it was to taste the difference when made with lemon juice. This will be my standard way of making it from here on. I made it twice—once as written but omitting the chile, and once using halved cherry tomatoes and adding crumbled feta cheese. Both were absolutely delicious. This salad should be in everyone’s repertoire.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it as a great way to use up any summer tomatoes one may have from their garden. I ate it both with the chile and without. For me, I felt that with the chile it was best used as a salsa instead of a salad, but if you like a kick in your salad, definitely add it. This would also be fantastic served on some grilled bread and as a condiment for a burger.

This was delicious, and a great use for my first tomatoes of the summer. It is incredibly versatile, as the flavors are not specific to Africa, but are found in many parts of the world. If you dice rather than slice your vegetables, this salad is remarkably like a pico de gallo. I diced the vegetables, but more coarsely than I would for pico. So you have a nice salad/salsa/relish here that can go with almost anything, and couldn’t be easier to make.

What a wonderful salad to serve with almost any meal. It has easy-to-find ingredients and is quick to make. We chose to not add the optional chile. The addition of the chile and then chopping the ingredients into small pieces, with the omission of the oil, would have been a pico de gallo, (Another favorite of ours.) I made this in advance and let the flavors marry for a couple of hours. All at the table had more than one serving and not a bite was left at the end of the meal. I will make this again and add roasted peppers instead of the chile.

I was uncertain what made this recipe Kenyan, as I am unfamiliar with Kenyan cuisine. This salad was essentially a salsa. It was easy to prepare and the flavors were lively and distinct. I would make this recipe again and I would recommend it to others. I think that when I make the recipe again I will try to add a little less olive oil to keep the calorie count down on an otherwise healthy recipe.