FATTOUSH SALAD

THE BACKGROUND

What is fattoush? This Lebanese salad stars leafy greens, farmhouse vegetables like tomato, cucumber, radish, and onion, all tossed with toasted pita bread and spiced with sumac.

What about the Pita?: Traditionally, fattoush is tossed with fried pita bread, but more often than not, it’s also tossed with toasted pita bread to keep it on the fresh and healthy side. (Also, who has time to fry pita bread anymore?!)

What is Sumac? This burgundy-colored spice is known for its tart flavor that helps add to the citrus energy of the salad.

FATTOUSH TIP:

Right before serving, drizzle the toasted pita bread with olive oil and toss with sumac. This ensures the bread doesn’t soak up all the salad dressing (nothing worse than a dry salad) and gives the sumac something to hold on to. Once your pita bread is tossed, add it to the salad and toss one last time.

All ABOUT THE JUICES:

There are recipes that call for pomegranate molasses in the dressing (which is sweet), but I lean more towards tart, fresh salads than sweet ones. It’s definitely a flavor preference, so I’d suggest trying it both ways to see which you prefer.

I’m the biggest fan of really, really juicy salads. Each bite should be accompanied by a drizzle of excess juices that mingle with everything else on the plate. Fattoush juices mingle best with rice and chicken, arayes b kafta, and actually anything else I can think of!

THE RECIPE

3 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 6 to 8 wedges
10 large romaine lettuce leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup loosely-packed mint leaves
1 cup loosely-packed parsley leaves
2 cucumbers, sliced into rounds
5 radishes, thinly sliced into rounds
5 green onions, thinly sliced into rounds
2 tablespoons sumac
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large lemons, juiced
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
2 cups toasted pita bread broken into bite-sized pieces

THE METHOD

Toss the tomato, lettuce, mint, parsley, cucumber, radish, green onion, 1 tablespoon sumac, 4 tablespoons olive oil, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Season to taste again with salt.
Toss the pita bread, 1 tablespoon sumac, and 1 tablespoon olive oil together in a separate bowl. This coats the pita bread with sumac and ensures the pita bread doesn’t soak up all the salad dressing when added to the salad.
Add the pita bread to the salad and toss to combine.
Serve immediately.

Recipe, Photography, Food Styling, Prop Styling by: TALA SOUBRA

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