Lebanese-Style Bread Salad With Tomatoes and Herbs

By David Tanis

Lebanese-Style Bread Salad With Tomatoes and Herbs
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
About 20 minutes
Rating
4(250)
Comments
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Ripe tomatoes, cool cucumbers and toasted pita bread, or Middle-Eastern bread salad. To be completely authentic, this Lebanese dish that is served in various forms across the region should also contain a sprinkling of reddish powdered sumac, which has a sour, lemony flavor and is available from good spice merchants. Fresh purslane, a slightly sour green succulent plant, is also traditional to the dish. You can sometimes get it at farmers markets, or find it growing wild. (It volunteers itself in most vegetable gardens.) But neither is required.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3 or 4stale pita rounds (6-inch diameter, whole wheat or white)
  • 1pound ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1cup chopped cucumber
  • 1cup chopped sweet bell pepper
  • ½cup diced red onion
  • 6scallions, sliced thin
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2small garlic cloves, smashed to a paste
  • ½teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground
  • ¼cup roughly chopped parsley
  • ¼cup roughly chopped mint
  • ¼cup roughly chopped cilantro
  • 2teaspoons powdered sumac, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

326 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 701 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Toast pita until crisp and dry. When cool, break into bite-size pieces and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Put tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion and scallions in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, garlic and cumin. Pour dressing over vegetables and mix to coat. Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate for up to an hour, if desired.

  3. Step 3

    Just before serving, add parsley, mint, cilantro and toasted pita. Toss gently. Sprinkle with sumac, if using.

Ratings

4 out of 5
250 user ratings
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Comments

Barbara

I made it, but I used parsley like the Lebanese do, not cilantro and red onion instead of scallion. The original version calls for fried pita...

Yasmine

I'm really sorry, but this is so far removed from the many authentic versions (Palestinian, Lebanese or Syrian fattoush) so as to not to vaguely resemble it.
Necessary (not optional) ingredients: sumac, pomegranate molasses, sliced radishes
There is no cilantro and certainly no white vinegar in fattoush! Also no cumin :)
There are no croutons, beans or cashews either :)))

Figaro

Instead of frying, get the same savory flavor this way; drizzle olive oil on the pita halves, add the sumac and a bit of salt. Bake at 350 (good if you have a toaster oven), until just beginning to become golden. Break them into the salad before dressing. Same taste, healthier alternative to frying.

Caitlin

This salad was excellent. A perfect side dish to a Mediterranean mean. I subbed lime juice for lemon to no ill-effect. Will make again!!

Debbie Peck

Perfect summer salad. Used sumac for the first time. Flavors are complex, love the different textures.

Rev.D Magic

I followed the recipe almost exactly. I didn’t have much cilantro so I went heavy on parsley and mint. I used stale bread. It was amazing. This dressing as simple as it is, is wonderful. My peppers were red and from my garden as were the cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs. It’s amazing. Drip from your chin amazing.

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