A burst of fresh, healthy flavours that are truly addictive!
Looks like a “plain old tossed salad”, right? Wrong! Looks deceive. It is SO much more than that. Although, a “plain old tossed salad” can be incredibly delicious, the flavours are usually somewhat familiar. A fatoushe sparkles.
Yes, the mint does make it special, and the parsley… the fresh lemon, fruity extra virgin olive oil, and all of the vegetables diced quite small: the flavours meld together creating a “new fresh”.
But, it is the sumac that really makes this salad sing.
I met Shelley many years ago. She is my Bette Middler, Jewish Mama, friend: the best of the best. Her daughter Aviva was 14. My daughter Ragan was 12. I taught at her daughter’s school and we met at a wedding that spring. It wasn’t an immediate friendship. It was slow to develop, but a keeper. Now Aviva is mommy to two adorable little boys 5 and 7 years old, and Ragan is house hunting and wedding planning with her fiancé. Shelley introduced me to Greek home cooking. Now, clearly, she is not Greek – but she knows just about everyone in Edmonton from her era, and so there was no shortage of dinner guests when she wanted to have a party. I went into a deep Greek phase after meeting a chef at her house who taught me so many things. Kind of like Picasso’s Blue Period. Then there was the Lebonese period. That honestly went no further than two salads: fatoushe and tabouli. Both were completely unheard of by anyone in the city at the time her friend Irka made them for us. I believe I ate fatoushe at every meal for the following two years. I could not get enough of it. Tabouli became my pot luck staple.
After adapting my cooking to Vanja’s palate, many tasty items like this were off the list. Slowly, oh, so slowly, his primordial carnivorous palate is acquiring a small level of maturity and finesse. He now eats some shell fish and a far greater variety of flavours… but still refuses to eat anything with herbs in it unless it tastes “Italian”. Mint in a salad? Feminine! Cilantro? Tastes like his “mouth just got washed out with soup”. Parsley? Forbidden. Rosemary, thyme, sage, etc. cannot even be “snuck” into anything. He just looks at me with “that look” and shakes his head. I don’t even try anymore. That is why having company is fun! I can be creative. Oh, yes. I have to have a little salad of tomato and onion, or something else very simple, on the side for Vanja. But – pretending that Spring has Spring and the Grass has Riz… I made fatoushe!
Fatoushe Recipe
Ingredients:
- two beautiful ripe tomatoes, finely diced (or cherry tomatoes)
- bunch of fresh, mild red radishes, minced
- 1/2 an English cucumber, finely diced
- 1/2 a medium red onion, finely diced
- 2 long stalks of celery, finely diced
- a good sized bunch of mint, chopped
- a nice bunch of parsley, chopped (I prefer flat leaf)
- 2 heads of Romaine Lettuce, outer leaves pealed away, coarsely shredded
- juice of one large lemon
- 2-3 tablespoons of extra vergin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of sumac (the “secret” ingredient)
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 medium or large pita breads, toated, and crumbled coarsely
Instructions:
- Wash and prepare all of the vegetables
- Toss together; add remaining ingredients just before serving
- Toss again, and serve
Did you notice there is no toasted and crumbled pita in my salad. It is really delicious with it, but equally delicious without it. You could equate it to a Caesar Salad without the croutons. Still totally delicious, but the croutons are the best part for some people. If I was doing this for company, or taking it to a dinner, I would definitely bring the pita for those who would be so disappointed not to have it. But, for me, there is no need. It is perfect like this.
The sumac is the ingredient that really takes this salad to a whole other level. Yes, it is that simple. A tablespoonful of sumac, and you have that extra bit of pucker power that is just addictive. I bought it at the Italian Center South.
Thank you, Shelley… and I think I need to have you for dinner again, soon. Fatoushe? XO
VALERIE! What do you think I am? This is RABBIT food! Do I look like a rabbit?
Valerie, Thanks for stopping by my blog. It sounds like we DO have a lot in common. I can tell you that living in Europe is not always easy, but it’s always worth it! We love it, and we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Where would you go? What would you do? I suppose that some of that depends on what languages you speak, eh? If chocolate is your goal, you can’t do better than Belgium, that’s for sure!
I love the looks of this salad. In the summer when the veggies are fresh we eat salads a LOT. I think we start to moo by September. This one is going on my list. I love the sumac in it. I had never heard of it till I found it in a market in Nice. Now I keep it in my kitchen and use it whenever I need a little dash of je-ne-sais-quoi.
I’ll be back!
This looks so delicious! This winter has been far too long and a salad would certainly bring a taste of spring. Now to find some sumac ;o)
I’m also curious – where did you get the sumac?
Oh never mind – I see it now. 🙂
I always find myself drawn to Middle Eastern flavours.
I love fatoush. It is one of my favourite salads. This is one think we did in my cooking classes in my home. One of my participants is Lebanese and she shared a few things with us. It was a lot of fun. I’ll email you one of these days to chat about cooking classes!
Great! I would love to have a cooking class chat! The sharing amongst us is the richest experience, isn’t it? I have a lot of students from the province of Punjab in India…as well as the usual Canadian cultural mix. So, I have vegetarians, and non beef eaters, and non pork eaters… and on and on. I actually LOVE that. We adapt. I am here to teach them how to cook what they can actually eat… One day, we were doing meatballs. I chose turkey. Then was in the midst of finding a vegetarian recipe with my vegetarian group, when they came up with tikki. They HAD to teach me. They gave me the grocery list – I bought it… and amazingly, they taught ALL of us. The entire class opted to make these and they were outrageously fun, delicious, nutritious and the group was so proud to share food from their culture, and even more thrilled to see how positively it was received. (Tikki is something like a potato pancake, but actually all of the filling ingredients you would find in a Samosa, but cooked in a little ball.)
And an e-mail from Nancy I thought I would share. Meyer Lemons in her house!!! YUMMMM!
Hi Valerie,
Seeing as how I have my own Meyer lemons (one four-foot tree and one small shrub) in my sunroom, I will try the Fatousche. I can hardly wait!
Too bad I will miss the Grilled-Cheese Olympics, as well as the Work day on the 6th. However, I look forward to catching up with you on the 18th.
Nancy
hi valerie,
that salad looks really delicious, I will try it next time as a side dish, I like it that it is cut into small pieces as it is easier to handle….btw thanks for dropping by in my blog =) I have email sugarlace(trish) about Kulinarya, have a wonderful day…
I will definitely try your Fatouche recipe. It’s perfect start to Spring eating! I think I can get Sumac at the South italian Centre shop…thanks!
I so have to get myself some sumac… I am not sure I will be able to find it here as I have not seen it before but I keep seeing wonderful recipes which feature sumac. This does look like an interesting salad, although I am not a big fan of mint in my salads, but worth trying!
Hi Valerie,
Thanks for your comment which led me to your blog. This is such a beautiful and inspiring recipe. Often salad really bores me but I can’t wait to try this. Hopefully, there’ll be some sumac available in Berlin.
I am sure you will find it. Berlin is very cosmopolin! You are so lucky to be there! My husband and I were there two summers ago for three days only and cannot wait to get back. Three days was not enough. He didn’t think he would enjoy the city, and it was my desire to go, so the three days was a comprimise. Now we are both hooked! That’s what drew me to your site… 🙂
This is a perfect spring salad! I go get some sourdough bread and join you for the lunch!
Looks lovely. I’m a bit curious about the sumac as I’ve never used it before. What does it taste like and/or what does it bring to the dish?
happy cooking
chris….
Hi, Chris!
Sumac is a berry from the sumac tree or bush and they are dried and ground. They brink a citrus sour taste to the salad that is unusual and very pleasing. I can buy this at many of our bulk grocery stores now. It used to be that it was found only at smaller specialty stores. It is a Mediterranean spice.
🙂
Valerie
this is one of my all time favorites! now… just to find me some summac!
So refreshing! I also add to my fatoushe pomegranate malassees which gives the salad an extra “zing”. an extra “secret ingredient”
R. Goldman –
Love that idea and just happen to have some. Will try it the next time!
🙂
Valerie