Cardamom and Tea

Kale Fattoush

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If I had to pick one word to describe fattoush, I would call it meaty. Don’t get me wrong, this traditional Middle Eastern salad is 100% vegan, and it’s essentially just veggies and bread, but it tastes so much more substantial than it looks. The toasted, staled, or (in this case) fried pita chips add a lot of gravity to the crunchy romaine and big chunks of summer veggies. Since I eat classic fattoush all the time, I like to change my recipe a little whenever I make it, and lately I’ve been adding lots of chopped kale instead of romaine, which makes for an even heartier salad.

If you’ve made a kale salad before, you’re probably familiar with the concept of massaging the greens. I used to think this was a sort of ridiculously over the top thing to do (I think we can all agree that it’s at least a very silly phrase), but it really makes all the difference. The kale starts out with the consistency of that green cellophane they use to wrap gift baskets, but after a brief olive oil massage, it takes on a texture much more like al dente noodles—pleasantly chewy, and definitely not sharp or crinkly. I’ve also experimented with massaging the leaves through a plastic bag, which is a pretty good good alternative if you prefer not to touch food with your bare hands, but it’s not quite the same a real deep tissue massage.

When I make this salad with kale, I like to add a little pomegranate molasses to accent the brightness of the lemon and sumac, as well as some toasted sesame seeds to give this salad a little more depth. And for a little more fragrance, I replaced the mint with basil—it’s the fattoush you know and love, but with a few small twists. If you want to modify this recipe to make it a vegan main course, feel free to add one or two cans of rinsed chickpeas, but it also goes great with kebabs or lahm bi ajeen.

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Kale Fattoush

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  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pint to 1 quart oil for deep frying (e.g., peanut, canola, corn, olive oil, but not extra virgin)
  • 2 medium pitas, cut into small triangles (store-bought or homemade)
  • 1/2 pound washed, dried, stemmed, and chopped kale (from 1 large or 2 small bunches)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided into 1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons
  • 1 1/2 cups large-chopped cucumbers, (2 to 3 Persian cucumbers)
  • 2 cups large-chopped tomatoes, (3 roma tomatoes)
  • 1 1/2 cups large-chopped green pepper (1 pepper)
  • 1 cup chopped parsley (1 bunch)
  • 1/4 cup chiffonade basil
  • 3/4 cups chopped green onions (3 or 4 green onions)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice, (1 lemon)
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses *
  • 3 tablespoons sumac **
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons lightly toasted sesame seeds (plus an extra 1 teaspoon for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Set up a safe fry station on the stove or in a dedicated deep fryer. Turn the heat to high so that the oil slowly rises to 340°F.
  2. To fry the pita chips, work in batches and don’t crowd the oil. Once the oil has heated, add a handful of pita chips and stir them around, keeping a close eye on them. Once they’re golden brown and crispy (about 1 minute), remove them with a slotted spoon or spider.
  3. Add the kale to a big serving bowl and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Massage the oil into the leaves by crushing them with your hands until they shrink down a bit and become more tender. This should take about 3 to 5 minutes. ***
  4. Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, green pepper, parsley, basil, and green onions.
  5. When you’re ready to serve, toss the salad with the lemon juice, pomegranate syrup, sumac, salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds. Right before serving, toss in the pita chips and top with the extra teaspoon of sesame seeds for garnish.

Notes

* Pomegranate molasses is available in Middle Eastern markets and some grocery stores in the ethnic foods aisle. You could also make your own. It keeps very well and is used in a lot of Middle Eastern recipes.

** Sumac is also available in Middle Eastern markets and some grocery stores, but it’s also very easy to find online. I use sumac in several of my recipes, and it’s a good thing to have in your pantry if you want to make a lot of Middle Eastern food. Learn more about it here.

*** If you don’t like touching food with your hands, you could instead mix the kale with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a gallon ziplock bag, press all the air out of the bag, and massage the bag for a couple minutes. But if you plan to store it in the fridge afterward, it’s important to let the air back in the bag.

Storage suggestions: If you are planning on keeping some of the salad as left overs or packing it to take to work, it’s best to mix up the dressing (lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, sumac, salt, and 2T olive oil) on the side. To pack up your salad, get out as many storage containers as will fit the salad. Massage the kale with 1T oil. Shake the dressing well and then divide it evenly between the container(s). Place the kale on top of the dressing, followed by the veggies, then the herbs, and then pack the pita chips in a sealed plastic bag on top of the greens. Once you’re ready to eat, you can toss everything together and enjoy.

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ingredient highlight: dried mint

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Dried mint is an important ingredient in many Middle Eastern dishes, and it shows up in many of my recipes. While dried mint can be hard to find in the supermarket, the good news is that it’s really easy to make at home, and fresh mint is pretty easy to come by. It may be tempting to use fresh mint when dried is called for, but they each have an entirely distinct flavor.

where to find it

You can find dried mint in most Middle Eastern markets, online, or in grocery stores with large imported foods sections. Occasionally, it’ll be in the spice section with all the baking stuff, but more often you’ll find it in the ethnic food aisles. In Chicago, I’ve had the most luck finding it at Fresh Farms. While store-bought is great in a pinch, I prefer the flavor of mint that I dry myself.

how to make dried mint

There are two different ways to make dried mint at home: the fast way and the slow way. If you happen to have a food dehydrator, then there’s a third medium option, but for the sake of this post, I’m going to assume that you, like me, don’t have one.

The fast way will get you dried mint that doesn’t have quite as much flavor as the slow way, but it works great. In either case, just remember to use more fresh mint than you think you’ll need for the recipe because the leaves will shrink down significantly. You can store whatever you have leftover for future use.

The fast way: in the oven

  • Wash and towel-dry fresh mint sprigs and remove them from their stems. Make sure they don’t have any water clinging to them.
  • Place the mint leaves in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan and dehydrate in the oven at it’s coolest possible setting (often 180° F) for about an hour, or until the leaves are crunchy and dry (check on them after 30 minutes). Use the convection setting to speed this up. Do not cook them past crunchy-and-dry or they will lose flavor.

The slow way: in the refrigerator

  • For this, you need a refrigerator that does not get humid (AKA a frost-free refrigerator). If you’re unsure, try experimenting with a really small batch of mint first, to make sure your refrigerator is low-humidity.
  • Wash and dry fresh mint sprigs. Make sure you dry them very well so that no water is clinging to them (I shake them off really well and then blot the leaves with a towel).
  • Cut the leaves from the stems and discard all stems.
  • Loosely bundle the mint leaves up in one or two layers of dry paper towel. Make sure they’re very loosely packed, and not tightly wadded up. The leaves need to be able to breathe, or they will get moldy before they dehydrate.
  • Place the paper towel bundle on a clean shelf or low-humidity crisper drawer and check on it every couple days. If the mint starts to mold, discard it. It should wilt, become darker, and become crumbly after about 1 to 2 weeks (depending on the humidity of your refrigerator).

how to use dried mint

Check out my dried mint archives for a full list of recipes featuring dried mint, or try one of my favorites below: