Fattoush

I remember the days in Lebanon when our garden and my grandmother's garden was full of all the vegetables and herbs. Rows after rows of magically grown greens, reds, and lemons on trees. My grandmother would pick out the vegetables straight from the soil and snip her herbs to make the perfect salad. FATTOUSH.

Fattoush is one of the more popular salads in Lebanon. It sides perfectly next to most dishes like kibbeh, BBQs, hummus, lamb rice, chicken rice, fish dishes, etc. But to be fair, it's a labor of love! Each home and city in Lebanon makes their fattoush a little unique to them. Below is just a guide of how we make our fattoush at home, but you can adapt the ingredients to make it to your taste.

Fattoush is best when the salad ingredients are finely minced. By that I mean: (eyeballing) a 1/2 inch on lettuce. 1/4 inch for tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, radish. Fine mince for parsley, green onions, and red cabbage. Prepare your dressing first to allow time for the ingredients to marinate together.

I HIGHLY recommend investing in a vegetable dicer to make life easier.

Ingredients: serves: 4-5

Dressing:

4 tbsp Lemon juice, about 2 lemons

4 tbsp Olive Oil

3 tsp dried mint (fresh mint can also be used instead of dry, 1/4 cup)

2 tsp garlic, crushed

1 tsp salt

Salad:

2 heads ( about 5 cups) Roman Lettuce, chopped 1/2 inch

1/2 small ( about 1 cups) Red Cabbage, minced. Optional

2 (about 2 cups) vine tomatoes, diced small

2 (about 1 1/2 cup) cucumbers, diced small

4 small (1/2 cup) Radish, diced small. Optional

1 (1 cup) green pepper, diced small

5 (1/2 cup) green onions, minced

1/4 cups Parsley, minced

Toppings: (optional)

2 large pita bread, cut into cubes

1 tsp sumac

Directions:

Prepare your dressing in a jar or a bowl and allow to sit on the side until you shop the vegetables.

1. Dressing: squeeze lemons into the jar, add olive oil, crush garlic and add to the jar, add dried mint and salt. Stir well and let it sit for at least 10 min.

2. Wash all the vegetables you need and drain well with a strainer.

3. Use a cutting board and sharp knife. Chop lettuce and finely chop cabbage, add to bowl.

4. Dice: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, radish. Add to bowl.

5. Mince: parsley, green onions, add to bowl.

6. Top with dressing and toss all ingredients in the bowl.

7. Cut pita bread into cubes, and either fry in a hot cooking oil for a few minutes while constantly stirring it as it fries in the oil. OR brush/ spray the pita bread with oil and toast on a toaster/ oven.

8. Once it turns golden brown remove from oil or oven into a bowl.

9. Sprinkle sumac on top toasted bread and toss bread and sumac together.

10. Top salad with pita bread right before serving.