Recipe: Lebanese Fattoush Salad With Pita

Fresh, brightly-coloured Fattoush, which makes use of roasted leftover, or even stale pita, is considered a humble salad in Lebanon and Syria.

In reality, like all elegant Levantine or Middle Eastern fare, it's a delightful tasting meal by itself, and healthy to boot.

Its name derives from the Arabic word for crumbs or fatteh. Therefore, the base of the salad is old pita and you can pretty much add any green you like or chopped vegetables, as long as you remember to season it with sumac, quality olive oil and lemon juice.

A little feta or a dash of honey or molasses, shredded roast chicken are interesting upgrades to the salad.

This salad by Zelda Pande should ideally not be made ahead of time because the pita will soften and become limp. It's best to keep the ingredients chopped and toss the salad at the table. But once made, it does last in the fridge for a few days and is not that much worse for the wear.

Fattoush Salad

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 large pitas
• 1 cup torn iceberg lettuce leaves
• ½ cucumber, peeled, chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 3 garlic pods, crushed
• 3-4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
• ½ red capsicum, chopped
• 6 black olives, sliced
• 2 red radish, sliced, optional
• 2 stalks spring onions, chopped
• ¼ medium eggplant, optional
• 1 tbsp sumac (please see the note below)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for roasting the pita and the eggplant
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2-3 tbsp or more feta cheese, optional
• Dash Tabasco, optional

Method

• On a tava over medium heat, roast the pitas with a little olive oil, one by one.
  Cool and tear into bite-sized pieces.
  Keep aside.
• Cut the ¼ eggplant piece lengthwise and then slice into half-moon pieces.
  Roast in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat till done and turn onto a tissue or paper towel-lined plate and pat off any extra oil.
  Keep aside.
• In a large bowl, toss the cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, lettuce, sauteed eggplant, capsicum, radish, olives, mint and parsley.
  Season with olive oil, sumac, salt, pepper, lemon juice, feta, Tabasco and toss again.
• Add the pita pieces and serve immediately.

Zelda's Note: Sumac is a tangy, lemony spice used in Middle Eastern cooking, that can be purchased online.

If you desire a little sweetness in the salad, add 1 tbsp honey or pomegranate molasses or 2-3 tbsp fresh pomegranate arils.

Other vegetables that can be added or substituted: ½ a zucchini sliced lengthwise and sauteed in a dash of olive oil, baby spinach, steamed green beans, baby onions, basil, romaine lettuce leaves, lollo rosso lettuce leaves, yellow capsicum or green capsicum, a few pieces chopped mulee instead of red radish, ½ a carrot julienned. But vegetables to pita proportion should be roughly equal.

A few pieces paneer may be used instead of feta, although feta with its sharp, tanginess is preferred.

While traditionally pita is the main ingredient of this salad, technically any grain toasted flatbread would do, be it ragi bread or whole wheat lavash. If using regular bread use a belan or rolling pin to roll it out to flatten it and then toast.

Skip the garlic and spring onions for a Jain version of Fattoush.

A shredded roasted chicken breast is a suitable non-vegetarian addition to the salad.

• MORE AWESOME RECIPES