Fatteh Salad

I am always open arms when it comes to offering up a new recipe that I ‘think’ my family might enjoy, especially my daughter. I’ve been trying to get the entire team to eat more beans, in particular chick peas as I enjoy them and they seem to stand up to a variety of dishes and still add some texture and creaminess. I also think of serving a side salad for dinner every night (which doesn’t always happen), so I figured this would spark some curiosity.

If you never heard of fatteh, I don’t blame you. It is something you probably don’t hear on a regular basis nor is it one that is probably in your weekly arsenal of recipes. Well, I’m here to change that for you. Fatteh is an Eastern Mediterranean dish consisting of some leftover flatbread, chick peas, an easy but awesome yogurt dressing, and some other fixings to your liking. It’s something I love about pretty much any Levantine dish… simple, complex, and just darn delicious. Fatteh is easy to make, and is great for using up some of your leftovers.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 can chick peas, drained and warmed
• 1 cup ground beef, cooked (optional)
• 3 whole whole wheat pitas, day old, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, minced
• 1/4 cup salted cashews, lightly toasted
• 1/4 cup dried craisins (or cherries) optional
• salt, to taste
• chopped lettuce, optional

Seems like a lot, but most of this should be pantry items. If you are any part like me, you have your regions of cooking ingredients around the kitchen. I have my ‘Asian’ section, ‘Italian’, ‘Middle Eastern’, etc. I think I have always kind of been that way in the kitchen. Regardless, if you don’t have things like tahini or Greek yogurt, go get yourself some. Not only are they both delicious, but they are pretty darn versatile and will not go to waste.

I like to think of this one as a quick, toss together salad. You may be using leftover ground beef that maybe you used for tacos (sure go for it!), or you have some leftover beans and day old bread. This one is perfect for that occasion.

So start by having all of your ingredients ready. This may take you a few minutes to get together. Warm the beef and beans, saute your onion and garlic in a bit of oil until slightly softened, and the rest is easy to toss and go.

To a mixing bowl add in the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, mint, cinnamon and cumin and a pinch of salt. Stir this well. You will want this the same consistency of lets say a ranch dressing. If you need to thin this out a bit, add more lemon juice or a bit of water. Heck you can even do half lemon, half water, but take it to the consistency of a dressing. The yogurt and tahini can be a bit thicker to start.

Taste the dressing and season with any additional salt if necessary.

To another mixing bowl add in the chick peas, craisins, and cashews. Fold in the slightly cooked onions and garlic mixture.

Take a serving plate and add the torn pieces of day old (or slightly dried) flat bread.

Spoon on the bean mixture to cover the bread. Drizzle a good amount of the yogurt and tahini dressing over the top. Shower with chopped lettuce. Now it’s ready to serve.  Have more dressing to allow others to smother their salad should they desire. It’s a darn good dressing.

Feel free to use your fork and spoon to mix onto the plate, or simply scoop what you need and mix on your own plate. You get it. The flavors of this fatteh are super awesome. The cumin and light cinnamon note provide that warm hug while the tanginess of the dressing balances that out. Then comes that bean, beef, and texture from the cashew that has your taste buds dancing like no other. I simply added lettuce to not confuse the kids. It was good, but not needed.  So there you go. Fatteh. It’s something easy, delicious, and ultimately a truly comforting salad. Hope you enjoy!