Ingredients
2 large pita bread (stale is good)
3 large ripe tomatoes
2-3 small cucumbers
½ bunch radish
½-1 cup grapes, sliced in half
½-1 cup purslane or cos lettuce
2 spring onions
½ bunch mint
½ bunch parsley
1 tbsp sumac, ground
Vinaigrette
1 lemon, juiced
60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
salt and freshly cracked pepper
Summary
A beautifully fresh Lebanese fattoush is heavy on herbs, the ripeness of the warm season and the lemony tang of sumac. It’s got all the good things. Sweet juicy grapes, ripe tomatoes, fresh cucumbers and radish… with yesterday’s toasted pita crumbled through. One of our very favourites for a humble feast or to sit in the centre of a celebratory table!
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea), a mildly succulent and exceedingly nutritious ‘weed’ growing plentifully throughout summer and in to autumn, is often the essential green in a Lebanese fattoush. Forage or harvest your own to use here – add torn lettuce leaves in its absence, or just the robust herbs.
Fattoush
Open the pita leaves with your hands and gently bake the 4 single leaves on the oven rack until crisp. Some folks recommend drizzling oil and sometimes extra sumac on the pita, but I don’t tend to bother as it absorbs the dressing soon enough.
Wash and slice the vegetables and grapes, and add these to the roughly chopped / ripped the herbs. Combine in a bowl and dress with the vinaigrette and a generous sprinkling of the sumac. Break the crisp pita over the salad just before serving, gently mix and serve.
Alternatively, leftover or stale sourdough makes great croutons if ripped and gently fried in a pan with a little olive oil. This salad is excellent with falafel or grilled meat.
