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I have seen many variations of Fattoush Salad around the blogoshpehere as of late. It is no wonder, as Fattoush salad is one of those colorful, fresh, flavorful salads that pairs up so well with the summer season and foods of the summer. It is also one of my favorites. I am one of these people who never eats the same salad twice. Sometimes I have a common theme, but there is always something that gets tweaked along the way depending on what is in the fridge at the given moment. Salads are great for the Leftover Queen in all of us! I love variety of texture, taste and smell in my salads and almost more than any other dish, a salad has to be colorful! It has to represent all the beauty and bounty of the season.
This is why I love Fattoush Salad. There are many varieties of this salad. Kind of like
Stuffed Grape Leaves (which is probably why I paired them in a meal together!), there are as many varieties and as many methods as one can imagine. However, this is my favorite version.
Sit back on a warm summer night with a bowl of Fattoush, some Stuffed Grape Leaves a glass of Shiraz, put TheLegendary Fairuz, one of my favorite CD’s and therefore in honor of this post, my featured Product Of The Week on in the background, close your eyes and you won’t remember if you are in your own backyard or the busy streets of Beirut.

Inspired by the Ingredients of The Mediterranean Diet

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INGREDIENTS:

2 whole wheat pitas
2 romaine lettuce hearts
8 radishes, sliced
8 scallions, sliced
1 english cucumber, sliced
1-2 large brine cured pickles
3 medium vine tomatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped mint – dry has no flavor, so get fresh!
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tsp salt
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 TBS ground sumac

METHOD:

Chop all the vegetables according to the above specifications and place in a large salad bowl. Crush the garlic and chop it coarsely. In a separate small bowl mash the garlic with the salt using a mortar and pestle, or the back of a spoon. Stir in the lemon juice and oil, beating with a fork to mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad. Grind the black pepper over the top of the salad.

Split each of the pitas in half horizontally so that you have 4 thin rounds of bread. Toast the breads lightly under the broiler until they are golden and crisp. Break them into small pieces and crumble them on top of the salad. Mix thoroughly. Top with the sumac.

Serves 6