Years ago, Dennis and I discovered a hole-in-the wall restaurant that served Middle-Eastern food. They served falafels, and they had several vegan items on the menu, so we found ourselves eating there often. One of our favorite dishes was the Fattoush Salad, which was loaded with fresh garden veggies and topped off with crunch pita chips. Somehow we had eaten at dozens of Middle-Eastern restaurants and hadn’t heard of Fattoush Salad before, but we now know that it’s a popular dish.
Fattoush is a Lebanese bread salad made with toasted or fried pieces of pita combined with mixed greens and other vegetables, such as tomatoes and radishes. It belongs to the family of dishes known as fattat, which use stale flat bread as a base.
Sadly, that little restaurant is no longer there. We sometimes pick up a Fattoush Salad to go from one of local take out places now, but they’re never made quite right – they’re either drenched in too much dressing, the veggies aren’t fresh, or – gasp! – there are no pita chips. To remedy this, I’ve started making it myself.
This simple Fattoush Salad is perfect as a side dish for falafel sandwich, but it’s also hearty enough to enjoy as a light meal on its own. Feel free to toss in some tofu feta or chickpeas to give it a little extra somethin’ somethin’.
Fattoush Salad
Ingredients
- 2 8-inch whole wheat pitas, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoons sumac divided
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 large head romaine lettuce coarsely chopped, approximately 6 cups
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
- ½ cucumber quartered and chopped, approximately 1 cup
- 2 radishes thinly sliced, approximately ½ cup
- ½ red onion thinly sliced, approximately ½ cup
- 1 cup parsley coarsely chopped
Instructions
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350°.
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In a medium bowl, toss the pita pieces with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the sumac, and the salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
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Spread the pita pieces on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, flipping them after 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as they can burn pretty quickly.
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While the pitas are cooking, whisk together the remaining olive oil and sumac with the lemon juice, white wine vinegar and garlic in a small bowl.
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In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radishes, onion, and parsley. Add the dressing and tingly toss to combine. Top with the toasted pita pieces.
I always like to use every last bit of bread – either dried out pita or leftover sourdough. Baking it into crisps or croutons is a wonderful way of repurposing, and it makes a salad a lot more fun. I used to regularly get fattoush salad at a place in Pasadena. Your recipe sounds very much like something I’d enjoy.
I have a tendency to put old bread outside for the squirrels, but I should try to make my own crisps and croutons more often.
Salad with bread in it sounds like my perfect salad!
I agree! 🙂
Sounds so good! Love those crunchy pita bites. And all those red radishes – my fave! Yum!
Thank you, Jenn!
This looks great! I love my salads with a bit of a crunch and the crispy sumac pita chips sound delicious in there.
Thank you, Mel!
I love Fattoush salad! There’s just something about sumac. I should really use it in more dishes.
I should use it more, too!
Wow! This Fattoush Salad looks incredibly delicious! I love the blend of textures and flavors 🙂
Thank you, Melissa!
Never heard of this before but it looks delicious! Love all the flavors going on!
Thank you, Sophia!
This looks exactly like what I want/need for lunch today. Love when my salads have a nice crunch and great seasoning to them 😉 Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Vanessa. Enjoy! 🙂
This looks delicious! The weather here can’t decide whether it is fall or not, so we’ve had some warmer days. Gotta grab the ingredients for this and make it this week!
Thank you, Sarah! I hope you enjoy it!