Lebanese Fattoush Salad with Lemon Pomegranate Dressing
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A simple Lebanese Fattoush salad with tons of crisp romaine, juicy tomatoes, robust red onions, and crispy homemade pita chips. Tossed with a house lemon pomegranate dressing that’s all kinds of perfect!
This bright, beautiful Lebanese fattoush salad is EVERYTHING.
And by everything I mean, it’s kinda of even givin’ me life right now on this dreary morning. Here we go again folks, another week of rainy weather in Houston! And you know what that means, comfort food. Actually, not true, i’m heading out of town tomorrow so i’ve got exactly 1,294,859 to get done today and this little fattoush salad is going to give me life. But if you live in the Denver// Aspen// Boulder area, what should we ABSOLUTELY do and more importantly, where should we EAT! Leave messages friend, I wanna do as the locals!
But back to the salad. What makes it extra special is the homemade lemon pomegranate dressing which i’ll get to in just a second. And… the highlight of this recipe — HOMEMADE pita chips that require — count ’em — one and two — two simple ingredients to make! I kid you not, the first time I made a fattoush salad with homemade pita chips, I grabbed the tray out of the oven and place them on the counter. Obvi, I knew 1-2 chips wouldn’t make it to the salad because sampling is a real thing. What I didn’t expect is for 99% of the chips to end up in my belly with just crumbs left for the salad. Luckily, I had a ton of pitas stashed in the freezer so the salad was saved! But let this be known friends, if you are like me, use 2 pitas to begin with, that way you don’t end up waiting so long for your salad.
This salad DELIVERS.
And by that I mean it’s got flavor, crunch, texture, sweet, savory goodness that I think is going to be my next food binge of 2016.
Let’s start with the lemon pomegranate dressing. It’s a few simple ingredients – ground sumac, lemon juice, garlic, honey, olive oil, and pomegranate molasses with a big dash of salt and pepper. Ground sumac is a seasoning often used in Middle Eastern dishes that gives things a tangy almost lemony flavor but without all the tartness that lemons are known for. It’s a seasoning that I love keeping in the cabinet because it tastes so good on homemade kabobs and just about any kind of grilled meats!
The second unusual ingredient is the pomegranate molasses. This is another staple ingredient in every Middle Eastern kitchen. It’s just concentrated pomegranate juice that’s sweetened with sugar and simmered until it thickens into a nice syrupy consistency. There are tons of recipes to make this at home, but luckily I can find it in my middle eastern grocery store for a few dollars so I usually take the easy route. These two ingredients are the heart of the salad dressing. The trick to making extra delicious fattoush salad dressing is to let the sumac soak for a few minutes in the lemon juice. I usually let them sit while I preheat the oven and tear the pita for the pita chips. When the lemon juice and sumac have sat for a few minutes add the ingredients for the dressing to a mason jar and give it a few good shakes. That’s it.
You can make the pita chips for the fattoush salad a couple of hours ahead of time if you’d like but be sure to not put them in an air tight container, it’s better to let them sit out. I find that an air tight container kinda softens them back up.
If you want to make this a full meal, just add in diced chicken along with everything else, you could even add in shredded rotisserie salad to make it an even quicker fattoush salad.
All I know is that I had the most overwhelming need to make and eat this fattoush salad when I woke up on morning. Really, I don’t even know what comes over this foodie brain at times.
And i’ll be honest, I’m already making this salad once a week.
Get your fattoush on!
Lebanese Fattoush Salad with lemon Pomegranate Dressing
A simple Lebanese Fattoush salad with tons of crisp romaine, juicy tomatoes, robust red onions, and crispy homemade pita chips. Tossed with a house lemon pomegranate dressing that's all kinda of perfect!
Ingredients
DRESSING:
- 1 teaspoon ground sumac
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1/4 cup olive oil
PITA CHIPS:
- 1 day old pita, torn into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon za'atar seasoning (optional)
FATTOUSH SALAD:
- 1/2 english cucumber, sliced
- 6-8 plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped
Instructions
- DRESSING: In a mason jar add the sumac and lemon juice and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes. Add the remaining dressing ingredients, cover with lid and give it a good shake until the dressing is combined.
- PITA CHIPS: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. On a baking sheet, toss the pita pieces together with the olive oil, a pinch of salt, and if using, the za'atar seasoning. Bake the pita pieces for 8-10 or until toasted. Be sure to check at the midway mark and give the pieces a toss so they toast evenly.
- FATTOUSH SALAD: Toss the ingredients for the salad in a bowl. If the dressing has separated, give it a few shakes before drizzling on the salad. You may or may not need all of the dressing, depending on how dressed you prefer your salad. Top with prepared pita pieces and serve.
Notes
- This makes some extra dressing, depending on your preference you may or may not need all of it.
- You can add in diced or shredded rotisserie or cooked chicken to make this salad more of a heartier meal. If serving as a main if you up the lettuce to 2 1/2 or even 3 hearts of romaine, it will feed about 3-4 people.
- You can also add in sliced radishes which are often used in a fattoush salad.
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