FATTOUSH (LEBANESE MIXED SALAD)

Salads for all occasions

Fattoush is a refreshing and vibrant salad made of mixed herbaceous greens and a variety of fresh vegetables. Its dressing is a zesty blend of lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, sumac and olive oil. Its trademark is its crispy pita bread on top. Its experience is divine!

It is a staple salad throughout the middle east, and especially in Lebanon where it originated from some hundred years ago. It also combines freshness, crunchiness and tanginess so beautifully, that it has become the sole competitor to “Tabbouleh”, the mother of all Lebanese and middle eastern salads.

Sweet and sour dressing

For Fattoush beginners, the dressing could be a bit too sour. But that’s what is good about salads; you can always adjust to your taste buds and add your own personal touch. Lemon juice, sumac and olive oil are the main ingredients. To break the tanginess a little, I drizzle pomegranate to the dressing and finish it with a dash of zaatar. The nuttiness of roasted sesame in the zaatar blend adds a pleasant mild note to it.

Greens and vegetables

The choice of greens is immense. I don’t like to stick to specific varieties. Depending on the season and on availability, my first choice would be Romaine lettuce and purslane. Iceberg and looseleaf lettuce, arugula and baby spinach are my favourite alternatives. Spring onions, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and radishes parsley and mint are not negotiable!

How to garantee freshness and crispiness

The ultimate Fattoush is zesty and crispy. Everything needs to be fresh and chilled for a while. Best way to do so is to prepare the greens and vegetables two hours before serving and store in the fridge. I also mix ingredients of the dressing and chill. As the pita tastes best when freshly made, I bake it the same day with little oil. Minutes before serving I toss the salad and garnish with pita.

Dina Kohl

Fattoush

Mixed vegetable salad with bread

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 6 servings

Course: Salad, Starter

Cuisine: Lebanese

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the vegetables

• 200 g lettuce or iceberg salad rinsed, drained and shredded into 2 cm ribbons
• 75 g lamb’s lettuce Mache or purslane, trimmed, rinsed and drained
• 1 bunch of parsley about 70 g, leaves stripped off, rinsed well, drained and coarsely chopped
• Some fresh mint leaves rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped or 1 teaspoon crushed dried mint
• 150 g spring onions trimmed, rinsed and thinly sliced
• 300 g cocktail tomatoes rinsed and cut into halves
• 200 g cucumber rinsed, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 150 g green or red pepper rinsed and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 75 g small radish rinsed and thinly sliced
• 100 g Lebanese pita bread cut into small cubes about 2 cm

For the dressing

• 50 ml lemon juice
• 75 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 small garlic cloves crushed
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sumac or zaatar
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup

Method

 

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven (200°C, 400°F). Add the bread to the baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons sunflower oil and mix well with your hands. Spread evenly and bake on middle rack for 5 minutes, until golden in colour. Watch out! Bread can burn easily. Set aside.
2. Mix the dressing in the salad bowl, add the vegetables and combine well just before serving. Garnish with the bread and serve immediately.

Notes

All images and text © Dina Bayoud Kohl