First of all, I love the long hot summer months here in Australia. Not only that but the summer evenings and those delicious summer salads. For me, summer is a chance to upgrade and try new things. A few years back, I was at my Lebanese friend’s house, and his Mum had made a salad. To say it was mind-blowing is an understatement. When I asked how she got the salad to taste that mind-blowing. Amazingly I discovered that she used the Mechaalany Pickles for the salad and to make the vinaigrette!

Mechaalany Pickled Cucumbers are pickled fresh and flavoured with garlic and a hint of chilli. Putting the pickles along with some fresh salad leaves, and sprinkle chopped nuts on top will bring things to a new level. For the dressing, I used the pickle juice and add some cream and mustard and a squeeze of lemon. Mechaalany Pickled Stuffed Eggplants are stuffed with fresh walnuts and flavoured with a bit of garlic and oil. I always use the stuffed Eggplant on my grilled chicken salad. My master tip is to use the juice and spoon it over my salad. I served this with homemade Baba Ghanoush. To say it’s a favourite of the family is an understatement.

Mechaalany Green and Black Olives go great when friends and family are over. So the week before friends come over, I fill a jar of extra virgin olive oil, put chilli garlic and lemon, and put the Green and Black Olives to absorb the flavours. They go great for a nibble and even better when you put them on top of a nice pizza or garlic bread. Mechaalany Sliced Turnips, now if you don’t know, these go great with a fresh mint salad with a side of Toum the extra strong garlic sauce.