fattoush

Soups & Salads

Fattoush

For some, fattoush is all about the pita. For others, it’s about those beautiful persian cucumbers — the skinny, seedless variety that have finally found their way to farmers’ markets on the east coast. But if you ask me, especially in this season, fattoush begins and ends with excellent tomatoes. I use a mix of big, voluptuous heirlooms and the small, bursting red and yellow cherries.

Ingredients

4 pieces good-quality pita bread
1 teaspoon sumac
salt and pepper
3 big heirloom tomatoes of different varieties, such as red, purple cherokee, green zebra, and yellow
1 pint cherry tomatoes, most flavorful you can find – i favor yellow ones -- halved
3 or 4 middle eastern cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced into chunks
3 scallions, bulb end removed, sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced, optional
1/4 cup mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons pomegranate syrup
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried mint
1/2 teaspoon sumac
salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. If pita is pocket-style, slice open. Put in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sprinkle with sumac, salt, and pepper. Bake pita 15 to 20 minutes, until crisped. Alternative: If it’s too hot to turn on the oven, you can just slip the pita slices in the toaster and toast until crisped. Remove toasted pita from oven or toaster, and break into uneven bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
Set aside a bowl for making the dressing; as you slice tomatoes, you’ll add the collected juices to the bowl. Rinse and dry large heirloom tomatoes delicately. Halve tomatoes, then slice each into 2-bite wedges, taking care to reserve the collected juice and transfer it into the dressing bowl. Halve cherry tomatoes. Transfer all tomatoes to large, shallow bowl or rimmed serving platter. Add cucumbers, red onions (if using), scallions, mint, and parsley to the salad bowl, and carefully incorporate without smushing tomatoes. (That’s a technical term.) Add pita chips on top.
Make dressing: combine all ingredients except oil, and whisk to combine. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking as you pour to emulsify dressing. Drizzle dressing over salad, and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes before serving, tossing every 10 minutes or so to meld flavors.