Fattoush Salad

As requested, I'm posting one of my favorite Arabic recipes- fattoush salad.  It's a refreshing and healthy salad that I could eat every day. 

The ingredients come together very quickly and the dressing can be made ahead of time (and you can make extra to serve another day).  The sumac is a unique spice that is crucial for authentic taste.  It can be found in any spice shop or Middle Eastern market.  The pita chips that you can buy in a bag can be used to replace the pita in the recipe.

If you want to make this salad without the lettuce, just add more of the veggies and make them a larger dice.  This salad is called a Village Salad and usually has feta added.  The fattoush also tastes fabulous with feta crumbled into it.  Chicken can also be added to really make it a meal.

I got this recipe from Foodnetwork.com.  Enjoy!

Fattoush Salad
Serves 6

2 cups of shredded lettuce (romaine and/or iceberg)
1 large or 2 small cucumbers, small dice
2 medium tomatoes,chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley, leaves only, no stems
1/4 cup chopped mint, no stems (2 tablespoon dried mint can be used, but fresh tastes best)
1/2 to 1 green pepper, diced
1 bunch green onions, finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon sumac
2 pieces pita bread, toasted until golden brown, broken into pieces the size of quarters

Dressing
  
1/2 cup lemon juice 
1/2 olive oil
2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper

In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients together.

Put salad ingredients in large bowl and toss with 1/2 to 1 cup of dressing.  Top with pita pieces and serve immediately.