Think salad, and what do you think of? For me it’s cool, simple, raw, refreshing, crunchy, healthy, summery! And yes, here in Colorado we had a late April snow and a coolish May, but I’ve finally got the snow tires off the car (had to drive through rainy/snowy weather on mountain passes just two weeks ago) and we’re starting to see warmer and dryer weather.
I had never heard of “fattoush” until I cracked open My Paris Kitchen for the Cook the Book Fridays biweekly “social cooking”. The word itself had a Middle Eastern ring to it, so I thought, maybe a lamb dish, chickpeas or a chance to use za’atar, a name applied to a few oregano/savory/thyme-like herb plants, or somewhat more familiarly to a spice blend. Wrong! Fattoush is apparently a Middle Eastern bread salad, taking its name from fatteh, the Arabic word for toasted, broken pita bread according to David Lebovitz, the cookbook’s author.
Another phrase that applies to most salads is quick and easy. I found most of the ingredients already in my pantry/fridge/garden and filled in with local hothouse cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and oak leaf lettuces to sub for the romaine. I did leave out the pita (sorry, the salad’s namesake) since we’re still leaning low carb.
And since I was making salad for two and not six servings, I buzzed up the olive oil, lemon, garlic dressing in a pint jar so we have dressing at the ready for the next few salads. So much better than store bought, and now just as convenient!
And even though this indeed was a simple salad, there’s always something to learn.
- All scallions are not created equal. The single scallion from my garden was much bigger than store bought, so the salad was a bit oniony for me.
- I can’t believe my final photo has a lemon seed in it!
Otherwise, this was a perfect summery salad!
the Cook and the Farmer 
For me recently was a piece of hazelnut shell! Great that some of the ingredients came from your own garden.
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Oh, ouch! Funny how those little bits can get past even the most careful cook!
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It looks super! Dont even notice ant lemon seed! 👍
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You’re too kind, Natascha. Enjoy summer now that school’s out!
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Thank you so much! I still have a few weeks to go but thankfully, it is going by quickly! xxxx
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I love your photo of all those gorgeous, fresh ingredients! And I so relate to your lemon seed comment – there have been a number of times when I didn’t notice something amiss in one of my photos until it was up on the blog and the food long since eaten.
I made the dressing separately, too. It’s so nice to have it in the fridge – my Mom came over yesterday with lettuce from their garden, so I’ll be having another wonderful salad today.
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I’m lucky to live right in farm country (except for the mosquitoes in the irrigation ditches and ponds a good part of the summer). But with so many parts of the country out of balance with their water supply, I won’t complain about the mosquitoes anymore. Yup, that’s pretty much how it happened with my lovely lemon seed! 😝
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I love the social cooking. I made the dressing in a jar too, and made the salad 3 times before it was all gone. Your colorful produce looks fantastic! And, at least that lemon seed was nicely speckled with sumac!
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You are indeed a glass half full instead of half empty type of a person, Betsy. Good for you, and thanks!
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I like the photos of your salad! All that fresh ingredients from your garden! Lovely!
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Well, really most of the produce was from local farms, especially the lovely lettuces. I could give anything to be able to grow lettuce that pretty! Thanks!
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Beautiful photos, makes everything look so fresh and appetizing. Hubby and I both really
enjoyed this and I will be making it again.
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Well, except for the silly lemon seed I didn’t notice until posting! Thank you! I’m sure we will make a variation or two this summer too.
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