How to Make a Lebanese Fattoush Salad, a Summer Favourite.

Lebanese Fattoush Salad is a great summer salad perfect for eating al fresco with friends or at a barbeque. This is a rustic country salad from Syria and Lebanon that uses a dressing make from buttermilk. This gives the salad a smooth let sharp finish that makes it so refreshing.

This is a method of using left-over, day-old pitta bread to prevent waste. I suppose you could put the thinking on the same track as a French Panzanella salad.

Pita or flat bread for an integral part of the salad. Shop bought pitta is fine, but you could also try making your own flatbreads. See our post on how to make your own flatbreads (HERE).

You will need.

• Chopping board and knife
• Measuring spoons
• Small whisk
• Small bowl
• Large bowl
• 2 large spoons

How to Make Lebanese Fattoush Salad.

Two hearty portions.

• 1                     pitta breads
• 2 firm             tomatoes cut into 1.25 cm (1/2 inch) chunks
• 2 small           cucumbers,
• 5                    radishes, sliced
• 2                    spring onions
• 1 small           little gem lettuce
• ½                   red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2                    handfuls of mixed lettuce, (rocket, lambs lettuce, mustard leaf)
• small bunch   flat-leaf parsley
• 2sprigs          mint

The dressing.

• 100ml             buttermilk
• 30ml               extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tsp          cider vinegar
• juice of a half a lemon
• 1                     garlic clove, crushed
  • Sea salt
    • Black mill pepper
• 2tsp                Sumac

Lebanese Fattoush Salad, preparing the ingredients.

Firstly, prepare the salad ingredients. Remove the root from the little gem lettuce, then separate off the individual leaves. If the lettuce leaves are on the large side, they can be shredded up later. Keep the little gem and mixed salad separate at the moment.

Wash the salad in deep water then drain well, a salad spinner is ideal if you have one.

Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and slice the flesh into strips then put to one side.

Thinly slice the red onion, spring onion, radishes and baby cucumbers and were good to go…

Lebanese Fattoush Salad – Making the dressing.

Next job is to make up the dressing. Peel and crush the garlic with a pinch of sea salt. Squeeze the juice from a lemon then mix the crushed garlic into the lemon juice. Leaving this to stand for a few minutes while we get organised will take the rough edge off the garlic and make it more acceptable to non-garlic lovers.

In a small bowl mix together the buttermilk, extra virgin olive oil, sumac and cider vinegar. And locate a mixing bowl large enough to take everything.

The pitta breads.

Stale pitta is ideal for this, but if they are too fresh, pop them into the toaster for a minute or two to firm them up. If you are using flat breads, you can miss this out.

Tear the pitta breads into small pieces letting them fall into the bowl. Add the garlicy lemon juice to the dressing and Sumac, then season with more salt and mill pepper as needed.

Pour half of the dressing over the bread, again if using pitta let the bowl stand for three or four minutes to soften the bread. If you are using flatbreads just carry on making the salad.

Lebanese Fattoush Salad – assembly.

Add the onions, little gem lettuce and radish, then toss in the dressing.

Add the cucumber and tomatoes to the bowl followed by the mixed salad leaves turning it over in the dressing. Chop the parsley and mint then add to the salad keeping a little back to finish the salad.

Transfer the salad to a large shallow serving dish arranging the ingredients for the best presentation. I like to lay the little gem leaves out first then pile the tossed salad in the centre, letting it spill outwards.

Sprinkle the salad with the reserved chopped herbs and more Sumac and you are ready to serve…..

Enjoy Life.

John.

© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024