This classic Middle Eastern salad is made distinctive—and more substantial—by the addition of torn-up bread.

Traditionally, it’s a great way to use up yesterday’s flatbreads, but we use gluten-free crackers here for a slightly lighter recipe. Sumac and mint are essential flavors for fattoush, and we, like many others, love to add sweet-sour pomegranate molasses to the dressing. To combine the olive oil, syrupy molasses and lime juice perfectly in no time, take our tip and shake the dressing ingredients together in a sealed glass jar.

Fattoush Salad

(Serves 4)

3 tomatoes, deseeded and cut into chunks
3 small cucumbers or 1 large cucumber, sliced
½ red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into squares
½ yellow bell pepper, deseeded and cut into squares
Handful mint leaves
Handful black (preferably Kalamata) olives, pitted (optional)
Gluten-free crackers, broken into
10 to 12 medium-sized squares

For the dressing: 
1 garlic clove, minced
3 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sumac
Salt and pepper
1 red onion, thinly sliced

Add all the dressing ingredients except the onions to a glass jar, seal the lid, and shake well. Add the sliced red onions. 

Rinse the olives to get rid of any excess brine, and pat dry with kitchen paper. Mix all the vegetables, the mint leaves and the olives in a large bowl.

Give the dressing another shake and drizzle over the salad. Scatter over the broken crackers and serve. 

 

Reprinted with permission from Bilhana: Wholefood Recipes From Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco
Yasmine Elgharably and
Shewekar Elgharably,
AUC Press, 2021.
aucpress.com

Yasmine Elgharably is a self-taught home cook with a business background and a passion for Middle Eastern food. She is a cofounder of cairocooking.com, a recipe-sharing platform helping cooks across the Middle East. She is also based in Cairo.  Sheweker Elgharably is a certified holistic health coach and culinary nutrition expert based in Cairo, Egypt. She completed the Integrative Nutrition Program and the Culinary Nutritional Program at the US-based Academy of Culinary Nutrition. Originally an established interior designer, after seeing how small food and lifestyle changes have a huge impact on health, she wanted to help people strive to live healthier and happier lives. Shewekar is also the founder of #HealthyRocks.