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Fattoush is a Middle Eastern Levantine style salad popular among all communities in the Levant and of course in Jordan.
The Fattoush Salad is made with dried khubz (Arabic flat bread – commonly known as pita bread ) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables, such as radishes and tomatoes. The actual recipe varies, but it’s often paired with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and other ingredients, and frequently topped with an olive oil based dressing with lemon, garlic, and the signature spice – sumac.
Fattoush belongs to the family of dishes known as fattah, which uses stale or toasted pita bread as a base.
In Arabic, the word “Fattoush” is derived from “fatteh” which literally means “crumbs.” As you can imagine, this Fattoush Salad is basically a hodgepodge of pita bread that’s been seasoned then fried (or baked) in addition to other vegetables that are in season.
For that reason, Salad is relatively newly combination and has not that old roots, furthermore, there are no rules when it comes to the vegetables that is used in Fattoush!
Researchers claim that the dish originated in northern Lebanon. At that time, Lebanese farmers would crush old dried leftover pita bread into small pieces. Some of them would fry it in olive oil for extra flavor and other rathered not.
Once the “fattah” of bread was ready, they would add to it whatever green vegetables and herbs they had within their reach. That’s why Lebanese Fattoush ingredients may differ from one table to another. Fact is, Fattoush salad originally belong to Lebanese cuisine cookbook.
A great base recipe that you can build upon and dress up how you’d like.
1. Break the pita bread into small bite-size pieces.
2. Heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan until shimmering, and add the pita bread. Fry briefly until browned, tossing frequently. Using a pair of tongs, transfer the fried pita chips to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Season with salt, pepper and sumac.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions with the sliced radish and parsley.
4. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon or lime juice, olive oil, pomegranate molasses (if using), salt, pepper and spices.
5. Pour dressing lightly. Finally, add the pita chips, and more sumac if you like, and dressing one more time. Transfer to small serving bowls or plates.
6. Enjoy!