Cherry, almond and baked pitta with pomegranate, chickpeas and mint
Feeling virtuous? A vegan diet has never been more popular and whether you’re going all the way or just doing meat-free Mondays, this flavourful Lebanese ‘fattoush’ is a must-try...
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 pitta or flatbreads (white or wholemeal)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground sumac
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 50 g (2 oz) almonds
- 400 g (14 oz) tin chickpeas in water, rinsed and drained
- 200 g (7 oz) cherries, stones removed and roughly chopped
- large bunch (30 g/1 oz) flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- small bunch (20 g/¾ oz) mint, roughly chopped
- 130 g (4½ oz) radishes, sliced
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 small cucumber, deseeded and roughly chopped
For the dressing
1 small garlic clove
- 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground sumac
Method
1. First, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6). Open out the pitta, then tear bite-size pieces into a baking tray and rub with the oil, sumac, cumin and salt. Bake for seven minutes then remove, give the tray a shake, add the almonds and bake for another three minutes until the bread and almonds are golden. Transfer to a plate to cool.
2. To assemble, peel and crush the garlic into a large mixing bowl then stir in the molasses, juice of half the lemon, the oil and sumac. Slice the cooled almonds into slivers then tip into the bowl along with the chickpeas, baked pitta and remaining chopped ingredients. Toss gently to evenly coat in the dressing and serve immediately while the pitta is still nice and crunchy.
Extracted from Salad Feasts: How to Assemble the Perfect Meal by Jessica Elliott Dennison (Hardie Grant, £16.99). Jessica is the Edinburgh-based chef behind neighbourhood café 27 Elliott’s.