Fattoush is the quintessential Lebanese summer salad of fresh herbs, greens, cucumber, tomato, onions, and radishes topped with toasted crunchy pita bread croutons. My mouth is watering and the back of my tongue is tingling just thinking about it!
Fattoush is second in popularity to tabbouleh. The ingredients are found in all Lebanese summer gardens, whether on rooftops, or on terraces in the foothills and edges of mountains.
In a large wooden salad bowl, crush and pound the garlic with 2 teaspoons of salt until smooth and creamy. Add the lemon juice and olive oil mixing well. Toss the thinly sliced onions with the sumac till well coated and add with the rest of the ingredients to the dressing in the bowl. Do not toss until right before serving. If you do not have access to rocket greens or purslane, just add additional romain lettuce.
Serve with the toasted pita croutons on top and be sure to have extra to crunch on the side!
Are you now inspired to add fresh herbs to your kitchen garden?
1 clove of garlic
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon sumac
2 tomatoes chopped into bite-size pieces
4-5 large spring onions (green) thinly sliced
6 radishes thinly sliced
3 baby cucumbers cut lengthwise and sliced
a handful of rocket leaves
half a bunch of parsley coarsly chopped
a handful of mint leaves coarsly chopped
one head of romaine lettuce chopped into bite-size pieces
2 medium loaves of pita bread cut into small pieces and toasted in the oven at 375 till dry and crispy
Coarse ground pepper to taste
Dribble with extra olive oil if needed and to taste
Sheila, what is sumac and what is the flavor similar to????
Sumac is a tart red herb dried from the sumac tree. It has a lemony paprika flavor. You can substitute paprika, and be sure to use fresh lemon juice in the dressing to accent the tartness.