Sometimes i’m in the mood for something super delicious from a favourite restaurant or take out place.  Sometimes the craving is so super intense and I have every desire to hop in my car and order up…but then my oh so practical personality ends up reminding me that I have a house full of food and I really shouldn’t be spending any money right now.

Do you ever have those moments where you still want take out even though you just dropped like 300 bucks at Costco?  I mean man, I have gone and done determined grocery shops before and all of the energy I had going in was sucked right out of me the moment I entered the check out line and I end up getting take out on the way home…WHAT THE WHAT??!!

Today, I have a wicked craving for a Fattoush Salad from my favourite little Lebanese restaurant but man, i’m trying to use what I have in the house and truthfully, husband is out and this would mean packing up my unruly toddler who seems to be all attitude and sass lately…so taking him with me to get take out was totally out of the question.    After a quick inventory of what I had in the house, I have realized that I don’t need to be mega lazy about it…I can just make one here.  I am about to channel all of this craziness and obsessive craving in to doing something useful and i’m about to get all DIY up in here.

Have you ever had a Fattoush Salad?  If not, get ready for the simplest salad that packs a wicked punch.  It’s delicious on its own or you can add this as a side with some grilled meat, shish kabab, or even some halloumi skewers.  I love this salad and eat a lot of it in the summer because I can bbq meat to go with it or just have it on it’s own if I don’t want anything heavy.  I especially like the fresh herbs that go with it.  If you have never had it, it’s a persian style bread salad that is so so simple to make.

The first task I started was making the dried pita chips that go in to the salad.  I basically sliced the pita bread in long strips and placed the in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes until they were toasted and dried out.  Make sure you watch them because they can burn really quickly.

When they come out of the oven, they look like this.

Now comes the Fun part…start cracking and crushing in to smaller bite size pieces.  So much fun to do this part.  As you can see from the pics, I made quite a bit….way more than what I need for my salad for one but i’m thinking ahead.  I pretty much crisp these babies up and store them in a mason jar so I can pretty much have this salad whenever I want.

Next, I started chopping my veggies to go in to the salad.  Sometimes I chop lots so that I have all the ingredients ready to go when the craving strikes.  You know me…I love a good twofer!! What’s a twofer you ask…a meal that serves as two.  Seriously…life changing and time saving to the max!!  You.Are.Welcome! The veggies that go in to the salad are super simple, cucumbers, red and green peppers, slivers of red onion and tomatoes.

Next I chopped a bit of fresh mint and some flat leaf parsley to kick up the freshness in this salad.  Remember…hubs ain’t home so I can up my herb game big time!!

Now for the glorious and simple dressing.  I pretty much use equal parts oil to lemon juice, a bit of sumac and chopped garlic cloves.  Put it all in a mason jar and shake shake shake!! Some people put pomegranate molasses in the dressing and I probably would have if I had it on hand but this is my simple version of the salad using what I have on hand.  Now you are ready to assemble this deliciousness and get ready to mow down.

 

This salad is amazing on it’s own and is a great way to have a meat free meal.  It also pairs well with grilled meats or my personal fave…some grilled halloumi cheese.  Halloumi cheese is absolutely delicious, it’s salty and squeaky and it makes me all kinds of happy.

Fattoush Salad-Recipe

Ingredients

Dressing

• equal parts olive oil and lemon juice (1/2 cup of each or pour in to a glass jar so that you can see equal parts as they will separate)
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 Tbsp of Sumac
• salt and pepper to taste

Salad

• Romaine Lettuce chopped
• Chopped red pepper, green pepper, red onion, tomatoes, cucumber
• Sliced fine red onions
• Toasted pita chips
• Chopped mint and flat leaf parsley to taste

Directions

1. Toast Pita Bread in oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes until toasted.  Watch carefully so they do not burn.
2. Once pita is toasted, let cool and then break strips in to bite size pieces and set aside
3. Add all dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake until combined.  Set aside
4. Add lettuce , herbs and chopped veggies to a bowl.  Add some of the pita chips, mix and then dress the salad with the salad dressing.
5. Serve on it’s own or with grilled meat or cheese.

Hope you all enjoy this little recipe.  It packs a punch and is one of my fave salads…all year round!!