Falafel Fattoush
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By Joe Yonan | From the Edible DC 2020 Spring Issue
This bread salad reminiscent of Middle Eastern fattoush packs all the elements of a falafel sandwich—spiced chickpeas, of course, plus pita, lettuce, parsley, pickles, and tahini sauce—into a bowl. It’s best when freshly made, because the pita chips retain some crunch, so if you want to reserve some for leftovers, separate out the pita chips after roasting and save them in an airtight container at room temperature while you refrigerate the rest, until you’re ready to serve the salad.
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups cooked or canned no-salt-added chickpeas (from two 15-ounce cans), drained and rinsed
1 yellow onion, cut into large chunks
5 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large pitas, split and torn into large pieces
1 tablespoon sumac
Dressing
Roasted garlic (from above)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
Water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
6 cups torn romaine lettuce leaves
1 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 large sour pickle spears, coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 425 º F.
On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss together the chickpeas, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Roast until the onion and garlic have started to soften, 15 to 20 minutes.
Scatter the pita pieces on top, sprinkle them with sumac, and continue roasting until the pitas are crisp and the onion and garlic are very soft, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, fish out the garlic to use in the dressing, and let everything cool to room temperature.
While the chickpea mixture is cooling, make the dressing: In a small bowl, mash the reserved roasted garlic with a fork, then whisk in the lemon juice, tahini, 1/4 cup water, and salt. Taste and add more salt if needed.
To assemble the salad, toss the chickpea mixture with the romaine, parsley, tomatoes, and pickles. Drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.
Joe Yonan is the Food and Dining editor of The Washington Post, supervising food coverage in the features department. He is the author of the new cookbook "Cool Beans" (Ten Speed Press, February 2020), the editor of "America The Great Cookbook" (Weldon Owen, 2017) and has written two other cookbooks for Ten Speed: “Eat Your Vegetables” (2013) and “Serve Yourself" (2011). He writes The Post's Weeknight Vegetarian column.
