Fatoush Salad And Eggplant Schitzel

I have a tiny corner market nearby where I am staying that specializes in Middle Eastern items. This makes me happy because I can get certain things there without going too far. I was there yesterday and realized I haven't had Fatoush salad in a while. This is so simple to make as long as you have some pita bread and some salad items.

The last time I had Fatoush salad was in a Lebanese restaurant.

The Fatoush that I have had, were made from cucumbers, tomato, lettuce, parsley,mint and radishes. They had broken toasted pita mixed in. A simple dressing as well

I took it up a notch, by making some cauliflower crumble to put on top.

Cauliflower Crumble

• 1 cup of cauliflower crumbled in a proccessor

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Saute ingredients until golden then put under the oven grill for five minutes. Set aside to cool

Dressing For Salad

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon white balsamic

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon sumac (middle eastern spice with a tart lemony flavor)

Fatoush Salad

• 1 cup diced cucumber

• 2 cup chopped parsley

• 1 cup chopped mint

• 3 pita breads toasted in the oven until crispy

• 1 cup tomatoes little whole ones or diced regular

• 1/2 cup diced pepper

• 3 or 4 chopped or sliced radishes

• 2 cups chopped lettuce of any type

Combine in a large salad bowl and toss with dressing

Normally the pita is chopped or broken and tossed with the salad and the dressing but I chose to put it on top so I could control how much bread I would have.

Eggplant Shnitzel

• 1 medium eggplant sliced in thin 1/4 inch slices

• 1 cup lentil flour ( you can use any flour. I used lentil flour because I had it)

• 2 cups bread crumbs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 to 1/2 cup water (depending on what flour you use just add water until it is like a thin batter)

Coat the eggplant in a little salt and let stand for twenty minutes or so.

Drain off the water that comes from the salting of the eggplant. Coat the pieces in the batter mix then in bread crumbs.

In a hot non stick pan with a little oil to coat the bottom, brown each side. Put all the browned pieces in a 350 F oven for ten to fifteen minutes or until desired doneness.

If you want to fry them in more oil you won't need to put them in the oven. We just used so little oil. We also put them in the oven to make more space while we finished the cauliflower.

I squeezed lemon and tossed sesame seeds on top of the schnitzel and the salad.