Day 89: Fattoush

All salads taste the same, don’t they?! Actually, no, they don’t and especially if you make Fattoush which is an Arabic salad. I love the name and the reason this salad is called Fattoush is because of the inclusion of pitta breads and that strange Middle Eastern spice sumac.

I started off my chopping up two pitta pockets into bite size squares and then mixing them in a bowl with olive oil before toasting them in the oven. Meanwhile, I got on with putting together the vegetables and dressing in a large bowl which included a red pepper, scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, sliced red onion, freshly chopped coriander, lemon juice, crushed garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, caster sugar, salt and pepper. I mixed everything together and then added the toasted pitta pockets just before serving.

The verdict…

I must admit that when I was making the Fattoush, I was half tempted to leave out the sumac as it stated on the recipe that it was optional; however, I was so glad that I did put it in as this spice is what differentiated this salad from the many salads I’ve eaten before. Sumac is, as I said, a strange spice – to me that is. It tastes kind of sour but, to be honest, the more I eat it, the more I like it. Overall, the recipe was extremely quick and easy to prepare with minimal cooking. Plus, it includes lots of fresh vegetables which are beautiful in their natural form without having to steam, boil or bake them; therefore, they retain all their nutrients. The verdict from me was 8 marks out of 10 and, surprisingly again, Dear Husband scored the salad 8 marks also which is significant in my book for the carnivore-turned-omnivore husband. Without a doubt, this salad has made The List and I now have yet another recipe which will be great for me to take to work. It really is so worthwhile when you find a chef whose cooking and cookbooks are on your wavelength. Easy, quick and healthy are definitely three recurring themes of the recipes included in the Easy Meals cookbook and Fattoush epitomised exactly that. Therefore, I had to totally disagree with a famous TV character who once said “You don’t win friends with salad!”. Well, I’m sorry Mr. Homer Simpson, but on this occasion, I do…!