Fattoush
فتوش
My all time favorite salad is Fattoush. Fattoush is a Middle Eastern green salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, fresh mint and an amazing dressing! This salad makes an appearance on our dinner table during Ramadan, every single night! The combination of lettuce, fried pita chips, and an amazing dressing - it's indescribable.
The dressing for fattoush is like a party in your mouth. So much flavor and it's so, so simple. I usually make the dressing in the morning and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. In my opinion, this is the best dressing to ever exist. Olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, sumac, salt, and dried mint. That's it!
It's really such a wonderful and easy salad to make. You can enjoy this for lunch on it's own, or add grilled chicken or shrimp on the side.
Fattoush
فتوش
Servings: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Salad:
1 head of Romaine lettuce
3 medium Persian cucumbers, diced
2 medium roma tomatoes, diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, thinly sliced
2 radishes, thinly sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds (optional)
Dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
2 teaspoons dried mint (or 1 tablespoon fresh mint)
2 teaspoons sumac
Salt, to taste
Pita Chips:
1 Pita bread, cut into 1/2" squares
2 tablespoons Za'atar
Frying oil
Directions:
1) Dressing: In a bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, garlic, mint, sumac, and salt. Whisk and refrigerate for a few hours.
2) Pita Chips: Cut pita bread into 1/2" squares. In a skillet or frying pan, add cooking oil - about 1/2 to 1" of oil. Heat on medium-high heat to 350*F. Add the bread and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Let the bread cool completely and toss with the Za'atar.
3) In a large bowl, combine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, mint, radishes and pomegranate seeds. When ready to serve, add the dressing and mix well. Top with pita chips.
Sahtain!
Notes:
- You can fry the pita bread up to 3 days in advance. Keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- When making the dressing, make sure to mince the garlic, don't chop it! The garlic needs to be super fine. No one likes to bite into a chunk of garlic ;)