Broad Bean Fattoush Salad

Bread is a great addition to a salad, especially if it’s crunchy. It may not be authentic to toast the bread for this Lebanese salad (or to use pita bread!), but it tastes so much nicer! I’ve also added a few more ingredients than you would most likely find in an authentic fattoush, but I reckon it is the better for them.

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients

• 200g frozen broad beans (or 400g fresh broad beans)
• 1 small red onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 slices sour dough bread
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, (short slim cucumbers) chopped or ½ telegraph cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, halved, deseeded and sliced
• 1 small cos lettuce (120g cos leaves), washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 Tbsp each chopped mint and flat-leaf parsley
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• sumac for sprinkling

Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp sumac
• 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp allspice

Method

1 Prepare the broad beans first. Drop beans into a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, return water to the boil and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. (If beans are fresh, pod them first, but cook for 10 minutes.) Next, remove the beans from their skins (fiddly, but necessary).

2 Preheat oven to 180°C. Soak the red onion in icy-cold water for 15 minutes. Brush both sides of bread with oil. Put bread on a tray and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 5-7 minutes, or until golden.

3 Drain the onion and pat dry with paper towels. Put red onion in a large bowl with cucumber, yellow pepper, cos lettuce, herbs and tomatoes.

4 Mix all the salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over salad and toss thoroughly. Cut bread into bite-size pieces and add to salad with broad beans. Toss everything together lightly, sprinkle with sumac and serve immediately.