The Levantine Table by Ghillie Başan is a collection of recipes inspired by the vibrant and diverse culture of the Levant, the region of the Middle East that stretches along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. You’ll want to return to deliciously fresh and exciting dishes like this fattoush Levantine salad time and again. The Levantine Table is out now from Ryland Peters & Small.
Small plates to relish (relish being the original meaning of the Persian word maza from which the term mezze derives) include popular dips, salads and small bites – hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh and falafel – as well as less familiar recipes to discover.
Fresh, crunchy salads prepared with a combination of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, onions and parsley vary throughout the Levant and are always popular with mezze or grilled meats, but in Syria and Lebanon, the addition of toasted bread transforms what is daily, peasant fare into the classic salad called ‘fattoush’.
See also: Thai Chicken Burger from The Chicken Shack
Serves 4.
INGREDIENTShttps://www.celebrityangels.co.uk/thai-chicken-burger-from-the-chicken-shack/
- 2 pitta breads or 3 slices of crusty bread, toasted and broken into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cos/romaine lettuce, trimmed and chopped
- 2–3 tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
- 1 red or green (bell) pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 red onion, halved lengthways and halved again crossways, finely sliced
- A large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2–3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses/syrup
- 2 teaspoons ground sumac
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
- Put all the broken pieces of bread into a bowl and toss in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the lemon juice.
- Place all the vegetables in another bowl and add the parsley and bread.
- Drizzle the rest of the olive oil and the pomegranate molasses over the salad and sprinkle with the sumac.
- Season with salt and pepper then leave the salad to sit for 15 minutes before tossing and serving.
Serve as part of a mezze spread, or as an accompaniment to grilled and roasted meat, poultry and fish.
See also: Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe for Jamaica Independence Day
