Traditional Lebanese Fattoush Salad
The story of how Fattoush was named is really interesting. It is said that in the late 1800’s a group of Lebanese Christians were invited for dinner in another village at the residence of a Muslim family called Fattoush. The guests were fasting from meat, so they chose to crumble the bread on top of a salad that the host served. To honor the family who invited them, they named the dish Fattoush when they returned to their village.
Recipe (makes a medium bowl):
2 heads Romain lettuce, chopped
1/2 small red cabbage, minced
2 tomatoes, diced small
2 Persian cucumbers, diced small
4 radish, diced small
1 green pepper, diced small
5 green onions, minced
small bunch parsley, minced
2 large pita bread, cut into cubes
1 tsp sumac
Dressing:
4 tbsp Lemon juice, (2 lemons)
4 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tsp dried mint
2 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
Directions:
Prepare your dressing in a jar or a bowl and allow to sit on the side until you shop the vegetables.
If you make fattoush or salads often, I highly recommend investing in a vegetable chopper. It makes the dicing easier.
to a jar/bowl add squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, dried mint and salt. Stir well and let it sit for at least 10 min.
Wash all the vegetables, peeling off stems/ ends, and drain from water to air dry.
Chop lettuce, finely sliced red cabbage (optional). Petite dice tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and radish. Add to bowl.
Mince parsley, green onions, add to bowl.
Top with dressing and toss all ingredients in the bowl.
Cut pita bread into cubes, and fry in cooking oil on medium heat until slightly golden. Or place bread in toaster and break apart.
Sprinkle sumac on top fried bread and toss bread and sumac together.
Top salad with pita bread right before serving.
