Favorite Fattoush Salad

If you’ve never had fattoush before, I HIGHLY recommend you change that. If you live in Boston, Tatte’s version is a good place to start. I love how different the versions I’ve tried are - there are creamy dressings, vinaigrette dressings, croutons instead of pita, and every vegetable under the sun. Traditionally, fattoush is an Middle Eastern salad that uses leftover or grilled pita with copious amounts of vegetables. I’ve never found a version with meat in it - trust me, you won’t miss it! My version is an ode to three (yes, three) of my favorite versions - Healthyish’s Grilled Fattoush with Eggplant, Ottolenghi’s Fattoush, and Tatte Bakery’s Fattoush (with za’atar croutons!) It takes a while to put together this salad due to the amount of chopping involved, but chop extra for veggies with dip or more salads and it makes your life so much easier!

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For all of my vegan friends: this works SO well with vegan yogurt and unsweetened coconut milk for the dressing as well. My favorite vegan greek yogurt is Kite Hill, but feel free to use whatever your grocer carries!

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the dressing

  • 4 oz (half container) plain greek yogurt

  • ½ cup milk (I use almond or coconut but 1% works super well here too!)

  • ¼ cup green or kalamata olives, finely chopped

  • ¼ cup scallions, finely sliced

  • ¼ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

  • 1 poblano or jalapeno pepper*, finely diced

  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced

  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice

  • Zest from one lemon

  • 1 tsp za’atar seasoning

For the salad

  • 2 zucchini, rinsed + sliced lengthwise (roughly 1/8th inch thick)

  • 20 mini heirloom tomatoes, cut in half

  • 2 mini cucumbers, thinly sliced

  • ½ cup thinly sliced mini radishes (roughly 8-10 small radishes)

  • 1 large slightly-stale pita, torn into small bite-sized pieces

  • ¼ cup mint leaves, julienned

  • ¼ cup fresh dill, stems removed

  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tbsp za’atar seasoning

Here’s how to make it:

Place greek yogurt and milk in a mason jar with a lid. Place in fridge for a few hours - the yogurt mixture will start to ferment. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients into the jar, secure lid on top and shake mixture vigorously for a minute to combine. Let sit in fridge for a few hours for flavors to meld.

To prepare grilled zucchini, spray slices with avocado oil (or other high smoke-point oil) and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of za’atar. Heat up a grill pan (or grill!) on medium heat and place slices on grill until grill marks form + zucchini becomes tender - roughly 6-8 minutes; flip halfway through. Remove from grill and let cool to room temperature before slicing into bite-sized pieces. Alternatively, you can wait until the rest of the salad is assembled and lay zucchini slices across the top.

In a large serving bowl, combine the rest of the vegetables and pita pieces. Using a spoon, scoop out roughly half of the dressing into the bowl of veggies (make sure to get plenty of liquid and the other goodies in the dressing!) Coat vegetables and pita with dressing, using more as needed. Right before serving, add in grilled zucchini, fresh mint, and fresh dill. Sprinkle za’atar over the top and voila! The best salad ever.

* Poblano and jalapeno peppers obviously have very different flavor profiles - I like and use both depending on what I have on hand. For those that are spice-adverse, I recommend poblano or half a jalapeno with seeds removed. If using a whole jalapeno, remove seeds before dicing.

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Annie Muske