Lebanese Fattoush Salad (Printer-friendly)

A zesty blend of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and crunchy pita chips with a tangy sumac dressing.

# What You'll Need:

→ Salad

01 - 2 cups chopped mixed greens (romaine, arugula, or purslane)
02 - 2 medium tomatoes, diced
03 - 1 large cucumber, diced
04 - 4 radishes, thinly sliced
05 - 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
06 - ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
07 - ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped

→ Pita Chips

08 - 2 pieces pita bread
09 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
10 - ½ teaspoon sea salt

→ Dressing

11 - 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
13 - 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
14 - 1 to 1½ teaspoons ground sumac
15 - 1 garlic clove, minced
16 - ½ teaspoon salt
17 - ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut pita bread into bite-sized squares or triangles. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon sea salt. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove and cool.
02 - In a large bowl, mix chopped greens, diced tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, red onion, parsley, and mint until evenly distributed.
03 - In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, ground sumac, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper until emulsified.
04 - Add cooled pita chips to the salad mixture. Drizzle dressing over and toss gently to combine all elements uniformly.
05 - Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve immediately to preserve the crisp texture of the pita chips.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It comes together in 30 minutes flat, and most of that is just chopping and waiting for pita chips to crisp up.
  • The sumac gives you that bright, lemony punch without needing to squeeze a dozen lemons, and it tastes genuinely different from anything else you make.
  • It's the kind of salad that somehow gets better the moment you bite into it because of those crunchy chips mixed with cold, fresh vegetables.
02 -
  • Add the pita chips at the very last second—if they sit in the salad even for five minutes, they start getting soft and you lose half the magic of this dish.
  • The sumac is not optional and not interchangeable; it's the actual thing that makes this fattoush instead of just a salad with pita bread in it, so find it at a Middle Eastern market or online.
  • Don't dress the greens until you're about to serve because cold, wet lettuce tastes like disappointment.
03 -
  • Rub a cut garlic clove directly on the warm pita bread before you cut it up—it adds a subtle depth that changes the whole flavor profile without making anything taste aggressively garlicky.
  • Keep your greens and vegetables ice-cold by chilling them in the fridge before you start, and store the pita chips in an airtight container until the very last moment so they stay crispy and snappy instead of going soft and sad.
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