Fattoosh is a Middle Eastern salad, we like to enjoy in the Holy month of Ramadan. It is made with a special dressing and finished off with fried pita bread or croutons. Each region has a different version and today I am sharing what you might call a Royal Fattoosh.
You need a base of greens and usually it is lettuce. You can use iceberg or romaine whatever you have available.
The traditional dressing in Palestine and the Levant region is lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, dried mint and sumac. It is an amazing dressing with a world of flavors but today we are doing things differently.
For your croutons feel free to fry, toast, roast or air fry the bread of your choice. As long as it tastes good, it works.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 cups lettuce roughly chopped
- 1 firm ripe tomato (i used a mix of cherry tomatoes instead)
- 1 large cucumber chopped
- 1 small red onion finely chopped or thinly sliced
- 1 carrot grated
- 2-3 radishes finely chopped or thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
- 2-3 tablespoons tahini paste
- 2-3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 lemon juiced
- Salt and black pepper
*For Fattoosh you have the freedom to chop the veggies the way you like. You can finely cut them into little pieces, or slice them into bigger but thinner slices. Or even roughly chop them into chunks, whatever you like you do. For me I like thin medium sized slices, this way I can taste the vegetables and have more than one kind on my fork a bite.
* In your plate lay a bed of lettuce and all the chopped veggies of your choice on top.
*Make the dressing. In a jar add the tahini paste, then the lemon juice. Use a small whisk to blend them gently. Pour in the pomegranate molasses gradually while whisking. The tahini will thicken at first and then slowly become runny as you add more liquid. Now add the olive oil, salt and pepper and your dressing is ready.
*Pour the dressing on the salad just before serving so that the lettuce and greens don't wilt.
*Top with fried squared pita bread or you can drizzle some olive oil on the chopped pita bread squares and roast them in the oven on the middle shelf until they turn golden. Once they are ready, place them on your salad and toss them together along with the dressing. Dig in right away before the bread turns soggy and enjoy!
