Fattoush is a salad eaten in the Middle East. The main ingredients are pretty simple (tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, red onion and broken toasted pitta bread) but the dressing is packed with flavour and zing (apologies for using the word zing – but no other word explains it better!). The whole dish is full of crunch, is brilliantly refreshing in summer and takes 10 minutes to make. The dressing is made from sumac (a tangy, lemony Middle Eastern spice – available in supermarkets and international shops), red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, mint and parsley. I use sumac a lot in salads, with a little olive oil. It’s great to have in the cupboard.
We ate the fattoush with some griddled halloumi cheese on top. It would also be nice with fish on the side (salmon, trout or smoked mackerel would work well I reckon) or sausages.
Fattoush (serves 2)
For the salad
14 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/3 cucumber, chopped
1 little gem lettuce, chopped
1/8 red onion, chopped fine
2 pitta breads, toasted and chopped
1 tsp sumac
Small handful mint, chopped fine
Small handful parsley, chopped fine
For the dressing
1 garlic clove, crushed
Half tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl and mix with hands. Combine all the dressing ingredients , stir well, pour over the salad and mix. Eat with griddled halloumi cheese, fish or sausages.
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