Chickpea Fattoush Salad

This fresh, crisp fattoush salad is the perfect summer dish. Enjoyed throughout the eastern Mediterranean, it is abundant with flavour and deliciousness, and so easy to make. There are many variations of this salad, and I’ve added chickpeas to my version - not only do they taste great, they are also provide a great source of vegetarian protein.

Here’s how you can make it:

Serves 4:

Ingredients:

2 large pitta breads, cut into bite sized pieces
Olive oil
1 large romaine lettuce heart, roughly chopped
4 spring onions, finely sliced
3 tomatoes, de-seeded & diced
1 cucumber, de-seeded & sliced
400g tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed
Large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, stalks removed and roughly chopped

For the dressing:

4 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 large garlic clove, grated
2 tsp sumac
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
Place the chickpeas on a small-medium baking tray and roast for about 8 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside to cool.
Using the same baking tray, place the pitta pieces on the tray, drizzle with a large glug of olive oil and toss to coat. Bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp and lightly golden. Remove and set aside to cool.
Grab a large salad bowl and place into it the lettuce, spring onions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas and parsley and toss to combine.
To make the dressing put all the ingredients into a separate bowl and season. Whisk until well combined.
Pour the dressing into the large salad bowl and again toss to combine. Serve the salad onto a large serving dish, and top with the crispy pitta croutons. Enjoy!