Olive Haven for big salads
Food entrepreneur Hiba Sadi says salads needn’t be relegated to appetizers and sides at table. She’s so convinced in fact that she opened a salad takeout and delivery kitchen in early December.
Of her fattoush salad, a veggie-packed bowl with fibre, Akkawi cheese (with origins in a city in Haifa Bay) and extra-virgin olive oil, she says “a star is born.”
“This is a mission-driven business,” Sadi says. “It’s small and we’re introducing salads to the community as full, stand-alone meals. Made the right way, salads have all you need. I want to get more fresh produce into customers’ diets.”
As for good olive oil, she says she can’t stress enough the health benefits. “It’s very, very good for you.”
Located in a ghost-kitchen facility in a Bishop Street commercial plaza, the business name points to Sadi’s reverence for the olive tree. “This food is my background. At home, in Palestine, my family and many other families have their own olive trees and make their own olive oil. Olives are celebrated there.”
With a degree in food engineering from Technion University in Haifa (part of mandated Palestine), Sadi makes a half-dozen salads including fattoush, tabbouleh with bulgur, pearl couscous, chickpea and a “pizza” salad, the latter the deconstructed ingredients of a classic Margherita pizza.
Driven by extra virgin olive oil, the small menu in turn is designed to drive awareness to the Mediterranean salads, Sadi’s rich and delicious home-made hummus – her mother’s recipe which sparkles with tahini – and creamy lebnah.
“We make wholesome food,” she says, noting the protein in chickpeas, bulgur and quinoa that forms the salad foundations. “We strive for a balance between good carbs, healthy fat, protein and lots of fibre. And flavour.”
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