Asparagus fattoush
Fattoush is a salad featuring fried bread that originates in Lebanon. Here I have included asparagus, but green beans or sugar snaps would work great as well.
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
- ¼ cup natural unsweetened Greek yoghurt
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 25 g butter
- 2 Turkish flatbreads or naan breads large (ideally stale), torn into bite-sized pieces (gluten-free if required)
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 bunch asparagus trimmed, cut into thirds
- 3 baby radishes thinly sliced
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers deseeded, diced
- 1-2 spring onions sliced
- ½ cup mint and flat-leaf parsley chopped
- ½ lemon juice
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground sumac
Mix yoghurt and milk together and leave on bench while you prepare salad.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add bread and garlic and fry until golden and crispy (about 5 minutes). Season and toss with a good pinch of salt.
Place asparagus in a heatproof bowl or a pot and pour in boiling water to cover. Leave for a few minutes to lightly cook, then drain and run under cold water (or plunge into bowl of iced water) to refresh.
In a large bowl, toss asparagus, radish, cucumber, spring onion, parsley and mint with the lemon juice, a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and the yoghurt dressing. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Gently toss through half the crunchy bread.
Serve immediately scattered with the remaining crunchy bread and sprinkled with sumac.
Use gluten-free bread for fattoush if required.
Sumac is a reddish purple powder made by grinding up dried berries from the shrub of the same name. It has a tart flavour (much like lemon) and adds a lemony taste to many Middle Eastern dishes. I recommend you try to seek some out, but if you can’t find it you can substitute it with a little lemon zest or leave it out altogether from this recipe.
Serve this salad with Arabian roast chicken, pomegranate sauce & pilav, and beetroot, spiced almond, date & feta salad for a Middle Eastern inspired feast.