Fattoush

Fattoush is a salad of Lebanese/Syrian origins and it's name means "moistened bread". Some versions of this dish use deep fried pita bread but I prefer the cleaner taste of toasted bread and using a sandwich press (once again I can recommend the Sunbeam Cafe Grill) is an excellent way to get that super crispy finish without the risk of burning. It dries out the bread perfectly. This salad is an excellent accompaniment to roasted/grilled meats or served by itself as an entree/appetiser. Once you've done all the prep work it's just a matter of combining the ingredients and making a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.



Fattoush

1 slice pita bread, toasted and then broken roughly into bite sized pieces
1 red capsicum, seeded and diced finely
1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled and diced finely
2 spring onions, sliced finely
2 radish, sliced finely
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 teaspoons Sumac
handful of continental parsley, finely sliced
1 tablespoon finely sliced fresh mint
olive oil
lemon juice
freshly ground salt and pepper

In a bowl place the prepared capsicum, cucumber, spring onions, radish, cherry tomatoes and herbs. Stir, then sprinkle over with sumac and a grind of pepper and salt before mixing again.

You can set it aside at this stage until ready to serve.

Now add the bread and mix once more.

Make a dressing of 2 parts olive oil to one part lemon juice and drizzle over the salad, tossing well.