Fattoush

While Matt and I were living with his parents, we occasionally when to a Middle Eastern restaurant called Shadi’s (spelling?). I fell in love with their fattoush. I knew I wanted to recreate this meal sometime, and this week seemed like a good time to try it out.

I looked up ingredients typically found in fattoush, but didn’t really use an established recipe. Here’s the gist of what I did:

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Lemon pepper seasoning
1 large or 2 small heads of romaine, chopped
1 large tomato, sliced and seeds removed
1 cucumber, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
3 or 4 pitas, sliced into triangles
¼ cup (?) extra virgin olive oil (plus some for pitas, a few tablespoons)
Juice of 2 lemons
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
small handful of mint, finely chopped
a few handfuls of parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:
I started by arranging the triangles of pita on a baking sheet. I then combined the olive oil, a little of the garlic, and salt and pepper, and brushed the pitas with this mixture. I then baked them at 350 until golden brown.

Then I grilled two chicken breasts with lemon pepper seasoning, and sliced into strips.

I combined all the veggies and lettuce into a large bowl, and added the parsley and mint (reserving some for garnish). I broke up the toasted pitas and added to salad.

Next, I went to work on the dressing. I combined ¼ cup of olive oil and the juice of one and a half lemons. I added the remaining garlic, and more salt and pepper. I created this dressing using trial and error. I know I added the juice from the half of the second lemon, and I am pretty sure I ended up adding more EVOO. Just work in it until it tastes “right.”

I poured the dressing over the salad, tossed to coat, and plated. I topped with the chicken, some additional mint and parsley, and a lemon wheel.

This salad was…So. Freakin’. Good. And healthy, too! I could have done without the mint, but didn’t really mind it. It is a traditional ingredient, so I am glad I added it.