Fattoush Salad, Vegetable and Pita Chips Salad with Sumac and Zaatar Dressing

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California boasts of being the home of the great American salad, and I have no reason to argue with that.  But the French, also claim to have the world’s best salads, and they prefer to eat their salads last.  They do do because they don’t want the taste of the wine ruined by the vinaigrette dressing.  I’ve never been able to wait until the end of the meal because I do love salad, but it helps, I suppose, that I don’t drink wine.The word “salad” has made it into a great many languages-in Italy it’s “insalata,” in France, it’s “salade,” in Arabic, it’s “salata.”  This gives away the knowledge that fresh green vegetables and red ripe tomatoes are universal food, and that’s as it should be.Fattoush salad is good anytime of the year but it is especially good summer time when your backyard vegetable and herbs garden start to produce. This salad is topped with broken pieces of dry pita bread.  So, now if you have couple loaves of old pita this salad is for you.You can use any kind of tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and greens in this salad.Dice the tomato, dice the cucumbers, chop the scallions and the pepper.Chop the romaine lettuce, the parsley and the radishes.To add extra flavor to my fattoush salad, I mix zaatar with olive oil and brush the pita bread before toasting it.My flavor enhancers are fresh mint, zaatar, sumac, aged balsamic vinegar, good olive oil and little salt.Chop the mint and add to the vegetables.  Sprinkle with the sumac and the zaatar.  Whisk the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil.  Drizzle the mixture over the vegetable and toss well.  Top with broken toasted pita chips and savor. 

Fattoush Salad, Vegetable and Pita Chips Salad with Sumac and Zaatar Dressing
Recipe Type: Salads
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Author: Sanaa
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Great salad recipe to use most of the vegetables in your garden or refrigerator.
Ingredients
  • 8 .Romaine lettuce leaves, chopped
  • 4 ripe medium onion, diced or 1 pound baby rainbow tomatoes cut in half
  • 4 .scallions, diced
  • 8 radishes, sliced
  • 4 baby cucumber, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 punch of parsley chopped
  • 2 .cups baby arugula
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tablespoon Mediterranean sumac
  • 1 teaspoon dry mint
  • 1 .teaspoon dry oregano
  • 2 tablespoons zaatar
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • 2 .pita loaves
Instructions
  1. Place all the vegetables and fresh mint in a salad bowl.
  2. Mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 tablespoon zaatar. Brush the bread with the zaatar mixture. Cut into 1 inch square pieces and toast until golden.
  3. Sprinkle with the sumac, mint, oregano and the rest of the zaatar.
  4. Whisk the vinegar, juice, olive oil and salt. Drizzle the vegetables with the dressing and toss gently.
  5. Top with the pita chips and serve.