A Break in the Storm
I’m always the weather skeptic: when friends and coworkers are going on and on about a looming storm, it’s always me that assures them the weather channel is sensational, and people have nothing else to talk about. Just grab your raincoat and call it a day. But this week we had some legitimately major weather in the Bay Area. When I saw businesses putting out sandbags and the commute slowing to a crawl, I gave in and held my tongue. Now generally people turn to comfort foods like soups, stews, or cheesy casseroles when the weather forces you indoors, but lately I’ve been craving simple salads–a little color amongst the gray, gloomy days.
There’s this wonderful Mediterranean restaurant back in Marin called Insalata’s and they serve the best fattoush I’ve ever had. After trying it a few times, I set out to duplicate it, and have come pretty darn close with the recipe I’ll share with you here in a minute. The nice thing about fattoush is, regardless of the season, you can find most of the ingredients in your local market. And I love that, with the addition of baked pita chips and garbanzo beans, it’s a nice meal in and of itself. Oh, and most importantly: the fresh, citrusy dressing brightens up even the gloomiest of days.
Fattoush is a Middle Eastern salad and there are numerous variations out there. It’s one of those salads that people tend to get protective over–evaluating how authentic it is from any given restaurant. Traditionally, fattoush is made with parsley, mint, purslane, and sumac. Purslane is still a bit tough to find in the store here (although you can sometimes score at the farmer’s market), so my version uses arugula instead. Feel free to use any bitter, earthy greens that you like. And instead of sumac, I use fresh lemon.
I’m curious: do you have a favorite Middle Eastern recipe? I love hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabbouleh but would love to hear some of your favorites. So here’s to fresh, crisp salads and a not-too-gray workday ahead.
Fattoush Salad
- Yield: 4
- Prep time: 15 mins
- Cook time: 15 mins
- Total time: 30 mins
Dress right before serving, so the pita chips don’t become soggy. And as with any salad, add the dressing slowly and taste as you go.
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
For Salad:
Instructions
Make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the juice from two fresh lemons with 1/3 cup olive oil. Whisk and add salt and pepper to taste.
Heat the oven to 325 F, and place the pita bread on a baking sheet. Bake about 15 minutes until dry and slightly crisp. When cool, break into pieces.
In a large salad bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the pita chips. Slowly add the dressing and the pita chips at the very end. Toss and serve.
Healthy Comfort Food
Thai Carrot, Coconut and Cauliflower Soup
People describe raising young kids as a particular season in life. I hadn't heard this until we had a baby, but it brought me a lot of comfort when I'd start to let my mind wander, late at night between feedings, to fears that we'd never travel internationally again or have a sit-down meal in our dining room. Would I ever eat a cardamom bun in Sweden? Soak in Iceland? I loved the heck out of our tiny Oliver, but man what had we done?! Friends would swoop in and reassure us that this was just a season, a blip in the big picture of it all. They promised we'd likely not even remember walking around the house in circles singing made-up songs while eating freezer burritos at odd hours of the day (or night). And it's true.
Oliver is turning two next month, and those all-encompassing baby days feel like a different time, a different Us. In many ways, dare I say it, Toddlerhood actually feels a bit harder. Lately Oliver has become extremely opinionated about what he will and will not wear -- and he enforces these opinions with fervor. Don't get near the kid with a button-down shirt. This week at least. He's obsessed with his rain boots and if it were up to him, he'd keep them on at all times, especially during meals. He insists on ketchup with everything (I created a damn monster), has learned the word "trash" and insists on throwing found items away on his own that really, truly are not trash. I came to pick him up from daycare the other day and he was randomly wearing a bike helmet -- his teacher mentioned he'd had it on most of the day and really, really didn't want to take it off. The kid has FEELINGS. I love that about him, and wouldn't want it any other way. But, man it's also exhausting.
Cheesy Quinoa Cauliflower Bake
I just finished washing out Oliver's lunchbox and laying it out to dry for the weekend. My favorite time of day is (finally) here: the quiet of the evening when I can actually talk to Sam about our day or sit and reflect on my own thoughts after the inevitable dance party or band practice that precedes the bedtime routine lately. Before becoming pregnant for the second time, I'd have had a glass of wine with the back door propped open right about now -- these days though, I have sparkling water or occasionally take a sip from one of Sam's hard ciders. Except now the back door's closed and we even turned on the heat for the first time yesterday. The racing to water the lawn and clean the grill have been replaced by cozier dinners at home and longer baths in the evening. You blink and it's the first day of fall.
Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio
I'd heard from many friends that buying a house wasn't for the faint of heart. But I always shrugged it off, figuring I probably kept better files or was more organized and, really, how hard could it be? Well, I've started (and stopped) writing this post a good fifteen times which may indicate something. BUT! First thing's first: we bought a house! I think! I'm pretty sure! We're still waiting for some tax transcripts to come through and barring any hiccough with that, we'll be moving out of our beloved craftsman in a few weeks and down the block to a great, brick Tudor house that we wanted the second we laid eyes on it. The only problem: it seemed everyone else in Seattle had also laid eyes on it, and wanted it equally as much. I'm not really sure why the homeowner chose us in the end. Our offer actually wasn't the highest, but apparently there were some issues with a few of them. We wrote a letter introducing ourselves and describing why we'd be the best candidates and why we were so drawn to the house; we have a really wonderful broker who pulled out all the stops, and after sifting through 10 offers and spending a number of hours deliberating, they ended up going with ours. We were at a friend's book event at the time when Sam showed me the text from our broker and I kind of just collapsed into his arms. We were both in ecstatic denial (wait, is this real?! Did we just buy a house?) and celebrated by getting chicken salad and potato salad from the neighborhood grocery store and eating it, dazed, on our living room floor. Potato salad never tasted so good.
Smoky Butternut Squash and Three Bean Chili
If your house is anything like ours, last week wasn't our most inspired in terms of cooking. We're all suffering from the post-election blues -- the sole upside being Oliver's decision to sleep-in until 7 am for the first time in many, many months; I think he's trying to tell us that pulling the covers over our heads and hibernating for awhile is ok. It's half-convincing. For much of the week, instead of cooking, there'd been takeout pizza and canned soup before, at week's end, I decided it was time to pour a glass of wine and get back into the kitchen. I was craving something hearty and comforting that we could eat for a few days. Something that wouldn't remind me too much of Thanksgiving because, frankly, I can't quite gather the steam to start planning for that yet. It was time for a big bowl of chili.
To Talk Porridge
Porridge is not the sexiest of breakfasts, it's true. It doesn't have a stylish name like strata or shakshuka, and it doesn't have perfectly domed tops like your favorite fruity muffin. It doesn't crumble into delightful bits like a good scone nor does it fall into buttery shards like a well-made croissant. But when you wake up and it's 17 degrees outside (as it has been, give or take a few, for the last week), there's nothing that satisfies like a bowl of porridge or oatmeal. It's warm and hearty and can be made sweet or savory with any number of toppings. The problem? Over the years, it's gotten a bad rap as gluey or gummy or just downright boring or dutiful -- and it's because not everyone knows the secrets to making a great pot of warm morning cereal. So let's talk porridge (also: my cookbook comes out this month! So let's take a peek inside, shall we?)
Jessica@Healthy Exposures
oh, this looks delicious! beautifully photographed, as well.
Audrey
I just came across a very colorful Israeli salad and had googled out a couple recipes to try. Low and behold, here comes another one that I used to eat when living in SF. I'm taking notes and will put this in my "to make" list. Thanks!
Hélène
Fattoush is my favorite salad. I have never found a recipe that I liked like in my favorite Lebanese resto in Montréal. I'll try yours. Hope it will come close to it :)
Hélène
Can you tell me where is the restaurant you are talking about?
megang
Hi Helene. Thanks so much for the comments! You know, I tried to put a link to the restaurant and google was giving me very strange warning messages ... so anyway, it's called Insalata's and it's in San Anselmo, CA about 15 miles North of San Francisco. Although relatively simple, it's one of their signature dishes.
Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite
I love fattoush and have bookmarked this recipe for future use. What a great little bite of summer in our dark Canadian winter!
Dawn Hutchins
Fattoush is one of my most favorite salads ever! This looks great. I love the crunch of the pita cheips.
El
The dish looks amazing...can't wait to give it a try. And the photos are gorgeous!
Sinful Southern Sweets
Beautiful photographs!! Love your blog!!
Kelsey/TheNaptimeChef
Baba Ghanoush - or just about anything involving spices, eggplant and pita for dipping. Yummy!!! Do you ever go to The Warming Hut for tea? I love that place!
megang
You know, Kelsey...I've never been! When I was training for my marathon, we ran down there a lot and people would duck out and get treats, but I was always racing for the first shower. Thanks for reminding me though...been on my list for awhile!
marla {Family Fresh Cooking}
This salad is well balanced and the perfect meal. Not sure I have had Fattoush, but I would dig it. I do love mediterranean food. I am the same way when it comes to sensationalism about the weather....can't stand it. Weather talk is kinda dull, the weather will do what it needs to and all we can do is prepare! Glad to hear you weathered the storm with this salad!