Fattoush! This Lebanese salad is not only fun to say, but also tastes divine. Traditionally, fattoush is made to use up stale pita, which is toasted and acts as the base of the salad. Well, I decided to be super lazy and just use a bag of store bought pita chips. You can go ahead and make your own chips (you can even use my recipe!), but nothing’s easier than opening a bag on a hot summer day.
Our main players here are tart sumac, peppery arugula and fresh mint. You could add in pretty much whatever vegetables you want, but if you’re like me your garden is overflowing with cucumbers, parsley and tomatoes at the moment.
Ingredients
serves six
Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
1 bunch arugula, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cucumbers, diced
2 apples, cored and diced
3 green onions, sliced finely
¼ small red onion, finely sliced into half moons
1 cup ready made pita chips, broken into pieces
Dressing
2 large cloves garlic
½ cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon ground sumac
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons tarragon white wine vinegar
Directions
Rinse all your vegetables thoroughly and get to chopping. Place all your chopped veggies in a bowl and set aside.
With a mortar and pestle, mash up garlic cloves, mint, sumac, salt and lemon juice. Transfer mash into a jar. Add olive oil, maple syrup, molasses, zest and vinegar. Tightly close the jar and shake, shake, shake to your heart’s content.
Pour dressing over salad and toss to incorporate.
Serve in big bowls and sprinkle with a handful of pita chips.
Image © Yvonne Penzakov for BitchBuzz