Cooking With Dr. G

When I tell people that I eat a plant based diet I often get the response of, “So what do you eat then? Salad?”.  To which I usually respond, “ppsshhhh, NO!”.  Ok, well that is kind of a lie.  I do eat salad. And guess what? I like salad. But, I don’t eat it everyday and I don’t eat boring salads, EVER!  On a day to day basis I eat enough vegetables that I don’t usually have a side salad with a meal.  I guess when your whole meal is plants a side salad looks kind of silly.  More typically I have a salad as a meal.  I fill up a bowl the size of my head with fresh and cooked vegetables, starches, legumes, tofu, etc.  When I say meal, I mean meal.  Let’s take a peak at this meal worthy salad! Behold, the magical Fattoush Salad:

I went to college at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, so nerdy, right?  Near by the college there was an Armenian restaurant that my dad used to take me to when he would come to visit.  We would order a ton of food, something different every time, but we always got the fattoush salad.  Traditionally, this salad comes with onions, but my dad hates raw onions so we always ordered it without.  He literally has told waiters that he will die if he eats a raw onion…lies, all lies.  Anyway, when I started to make this salad at home I always left out the onions, even though I actually love raw onions.  This salad is so delicate and yet flavorful as is, that I actually think that the onion may over power it.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Over the years of tinkering with this recipe and trying to make it more meal-like, I have added chickpeas and pita chips right into the salad.  They amp up the flavor while decreasing the mess (picture me forking salad into a pita pocket and trying to eat it before it falls apart).  The recipe for my homemade pita chips and spiced chickpeas are included in this post, did you think I’d leave you hanging?

FYI, if you are looking to cut some corners on this recipe to save time, feel free to buy the pita chips (Stacy’s Pita Chips are great in this recipe, I like the garlic ones) and use plain chickpeas instead of the spiced ones, but it is worth the 2 minutes to make the dressing.  If you are looking for a gluten free option try garlic roasted sweet potatoes instead of the pita chips.  And, if you are looking for an oil free option simply leave it out, this recipes doesn’t really need oil.

Enjoy!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

Dr. G’s Fattoush Salad

September 12, 2016

by laurie.garabedian@gmail.com

Category Main Meals

This salad it light, lemony, and delicious. FYI, this recipe makes a huge salad! My taste tester and I ate about 1/2 of this together for dinner one night. Once everything is mixed together this salad does not keep well. Only dress what you are planning to eat. The salad, dressing, and chickpeas can be stored separately in air tight containers in the refrigerator for about 5 days. The pita chips will keep for 2-3 days in an air tight container as well, stored at room temperature.

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon of sumac powder (optional)

Dressing:

• juice of 4 lemons
• 1/4 cup olive oil (you can use less or omit if you are wanting a lower fat or oil free option)
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• 1-2 teaspoon agave nectar or honey to taste
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper

Pita Chips:

• 2 pita bread loaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• sprinkle of salt (optional)

Chickpeas:

• 2 cups of cooked chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 tablespoon of Armenian 7 spice (can be purchased at specialty markets or you can make your own by combining: allspice (1 tablespoon), cinnamon (1 tablespoon), cloves (1 teaspoon), black pepper (1 tablespoon), mahlab (1 teaspoon, optional), nutmeg (1 teaspoon), and ginger (1 teaspoon). This is the same seasoning I use in my lentil soup by the way.)

Instructions

Salad:

1. Chop all ingredients and place in a large bowl, toss well.

Dressing:

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl or shake up in a mason jar and set aside.

Pita chips:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350F
2. Cut pita bread loaves into 1in x 1in squares
3. If using a thinner bread leave the top and bottom layers of the bread together, if using a thicker bread separate the top and bottom layers.
4. Place pita squares in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, and salt.
5. Spread the squares onto a baking sheet in a single layer.
6. Bake in oven at 350F until golden brown and crispy, about 5-7 minutes.
7. Keep a close eye on these little buggers, they burn quickly.

Chickpeas:

1. Place chickpeas into a bowl and toss with the water and spices until well coated.
2. Either 1. spread chickpeas onto a baking sheet and put in 350F oven for about 15 minutes, until heated through and spices are fragrant (I use this method when I am making pita chips since the oven is already pre-heated) or 2. Saute chickpeas in a pan over medium high heat for 7-10 minutes again until heated through and spices are fragrant.

Putting it all together:

1. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well, allow to sit for 2 minutes, then toss again (this salad is best when it is well coated with dressing).
2. Add pita chips, toss again, and serve immediately.
3. Serve chickpeas on top.

Tags

Armenian,

Beans,

Lemon,

Most Popular,

Salad,

Summer

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