Fattoush is a bread salad made of toasted or fried bread mixed with a variety of greens and vegetables. It was created as a way to use up stale bread and seasonal vegetables but transformed into a popular dish in the middle east and a staple of the Lebanese mezza. Fattoush is a great example of the arabic or middle eastern cuisine, a lot of fresh vegetables, colors and flavors and definitely no shortage on bright flavors and spices.

The secret to a great fattoush is the dressing. You can use whatever vegetables and greens you have available but it is the dressing and the addition of pita bread is what transforms your every day salad into an extra ordinary fattoush.Unlike tabbouleh which is a finely chopped herb based salad, fattoush tends to be coarsely chopped and it is more about a variety of vegetables that greens. The recipe I am sharing today is the way I usually make it but you can add other vegetables like radishes and green onions .

Fattoush

1/2 red pepper chopped

1/2 yellow pepper chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

2 cucumbers chopped

5-6 lettuce leaves torn by hand

1 carrot chopped

2 pita bread cut into squares

Salad dressing..

( recipe adapted from delicious bite)

4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon dried mint

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sumac

1 clove garlic minced (optional)

1 onion cut into slices (optional)

Directions

Mix all the dressing ingredient (I usually do it in a jar) and set aside.

Cut all the vegetables into similar size pieces

Fry or toast the bread

Toss the vegetables with the bread and dressing immediately before serving the fattoush or else the bread will go soggy