FATTOUSH & HONEY,KIWI TARTS

    

FATTOUSH

Fattoush (Arabic: فتوش, also fattush, fatush, fattoosh,and fattouche) is a Levantine bread salad made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread (khubz ‘arabi) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables. Fattoush belongs to the family of dishes known as fattat (plural) or fatta, which use stale flatbread as a base. Its some what similar to italian panzanella.

 

Fattoush includes different vegetables and herbs according to season and taste. The vegetables are cut into relatively large pieces compared to tabbouleh which requires ingredients to be finely chopped. Sumac is usually used to give fattoush its sour taste.

Fattoush is a popular salad, especially in Lebanon or the middle eastern gulf countries. The great thing about fattoush is that you can add and delete veggies from the recipe according to taste. Instead of pita bread, you can also any other type of toasted bread like French or Italian bread.

This salad is all about sourness. The combination of lemon and sumac really packs a punch. Great with a barbecue.

INGREDIENTS:-

• 2 whole wheat pita pocket breads
• 2 heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 1 cup diced tomatoes (let drain a minute or two if extra juicy)
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Optional ingredients:

• chopped green pepper- 2
• Red radishes- 4
• handful of olives
• 1 small white onion
• feta cheese
• pomegranate airils

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2-4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp  Sumac
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1-4 cup fresh mint- chopped

METHOD;-

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F/200C. Cut whole wheat pita into strips about 3/4 inch wide and arrange on baking sheet.  Bake until pita strips are crisp but only barely starting to brown, less than 10 minutes.

For the dressing, crush together the chopped garlic and salt using a mortar and pestle, or the side of a knife or spoon. Put garlic-salt paste in a small bowl, then add lemon juice and 1 tsp Sumac and chopped fresh mint leaves. Whisk in olive oil and set dressing aside.

Remove outer leaves from Romaine, trim stem end, then wash and drain. Cut and chop Romaine into small pieces.

Chop tomatoes (drain the juice), green onions, cucumbers, radishes, mint, and parsley and add to lettuce. Add about half of the dressing and toss, then add crumbled pita chips and toss again with more dressing. The salad should sit for a few minutes (or longer) to let flavors blend and so the pita chips absorb some of the dressing. To serve, arrange salad on individual plates and sprinkle with a bit more Sumac.

HONEY KIWI TARTS

Refreshingly tart, with a lovely floral note from the honey, this is a great warm-weather treat. We recently bought some kiwis which were slightly more on the tart side then sweeter , so made this mini tarts adding honey as a sweetner.

makes 6-8 mini tarts

cooking time :- 5 mnts

INGREDIENTS:-

• 8 ripe kiwi fruits
• 3-5 tablespoons runny honey, to taste
• a drop of green food coloring (optional)
• 1 tsp agar agar
• 1 cup water

METHOD:-
Peel the kiwi fruit and chop the flesh into chunks. Put in the bowl of a food processor or a blender, puree and keep aside.
Bring the water with the agar agar powder,green colour and honey to boil for a minute or two.
After its cooled for a minute or two mix it with the pureed kiwi fruit.
Pour the mixture into the molds and carefully transfer to the refrigerator. Keep them for 3-4 hrs. I used silicon muffin moulds here.
When ready to serve, dip the molds in hot water for a few seconds to loosen the tartlets and serve immediately with a daloop of honey.

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