Recipes have been few and far between around here lately, and though I feel a little sad about that, I've accepted that life comes first. Evenings and weekends have been busier than usual, juggling larger commitments at work, planning a wedding and reading up on gardening in hopes that I'll develop a green thumb in time for summer (fingers crossed). Don't be mistaken though, we've been cooking tons and eating loads, I just haven't had the 'umphf' lately to photograph recipes and write about them.
But, last weekend was different. We were unexpectedly in town and I was able to take a few day light shots as I prepped and cooked my way through this fattoush salad - destined for Monday's desk lunch. Sundays have always been, and continue to be my meal prep day. I start out by planning my way through a menu for the week, develop my grocery list from that menu and then hit the market.
This salad though, needs to be mixed just before serving -- otherwise the lettuce gets soggy and the pita chips loose their crunch. So instead of dismissing this recipe from the blog because I couldn't get final "beauty shots", I decided to just roll with real life, and snap a pic of my tupperware at work. Yep, real life -- unedited, messy and in a tupperware.
FATTOUSH SALAD WITH SUMAC DRESSING // serves 4
Everyone has their own way of making fattoush, but I like mine with lots of crunch and a tangy dressing. Don't chop the veggies too small, or they'll loose their mega crunch factor. We ate this as a main for lunch, so I tossed in some cooked, shredded chicken. If serving as a side, omit the chicken. Scale up (or down) as needed.
Ingredients:
1 head romaine, torn into bite sized pieces
2 handfuls arugula
1 cucumber, seeds removed and roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
3-5 radishes, thinly sliced
2-3 sprigs mint, leaves torn
shredded chicken (optional)
pita chips //
2-3 pitas
1 T olive oil
paprika, oregano, salt and pepper
sumac dressing //
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 T white wine vinegar
1 T almond milk
1 T sumac
What to do:
Start with the pita chips. Preheat oven to 400. Keeping the pita whole (don't separate the pita into 2 thin halves), use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the pita into 15-20 pieces. Toss the pieces in olive oil, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for roughly 5 minutes, until golden and crisp. Keep a close eye to ensure they don't burn. Let cool completely.
Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Just before serving, whizz the dressing ingredients in a small blender. Add the cooled pita chips to the salad, pour over the dressing and toss everything to combine. Serve immediately.