Fahtoosh (Arabic Bread Salad) YUM!

Fatoosh is a delicious and refreshing salad made with fresh ingredients and uses toasted Arabic bread. Syrian or Arabic Bread is similar to pita bread, it's just much thinner. It is also unleavened. This bread is a staple in an Arabic home, using it for eating much of our food, instead of using utensils. There are kinds that are so thin, you can almost see through them and they are about 2 feet in diameter. So don't get your knickers in a twist when you see Arabic people using their hands to eat.

2 loaves Syrian bread
1/2 bunch green onions
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
1 cucumber
1 bunch fresh mint
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 teaspoon, yeah, you guessed it, ground Jamaican allspice unless you have Syrian pepper
Juice of 3 lemons
1/2 cup olive oil
Kalamata olives

Pull the two sides of the Arabic bread apart. Toast them lightly under a broiler, but watch carefully! They toast very quickly!! Let it cool, then break or cut bread into bite-size pieces. Chop and cut all the vegetables into small pieces, too. Mix bread with salad in a bowl. (you can toast the bread lightly under the broiler if you watch it diligently because it will burn quickly if you don't. I do this because I like it that way.) Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and mix well. Add olives and my guess is you will smack your lips and your eyes will light up and you will have discovered something you have longed for all your life!

Lebanese Tabouleh ( I could eat this everyday!)

Tabouleh must have been the salad of the gods. It has a flavor you can't get enough of, and is amazingly good for you, too. Bulgur wheat is available almost everywhere now and you want to buy the finest ground bulgur you can get.

The authentic way to eat this is with leaves of lettuce (such as Boston lettuce) instead of with utensils. As some of my friends say, "you'll want to smack yo mama" when you eat this. I wouldn't. My mama is stronger than I am.


3 very large bunches of fresh parsley, washed and drained
1 bunch fresh mint, washed and drained
2 scallions
1 cup finely ground bulgur wheat
4 large tomatoes
4 fresh lemons
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper (Lebanese pepper if you have it)

Put the bulghur wheat in a bowl of cold water and let it soak for 30 minutes. It will absorb the water and swell and become softer. Do this because you don't want it to swell once you have eaten it and your belly will blow up like a puffer fish.

Cut the stems from the parsley and pull the leaves of mint off the stems. Put the parsley and mint in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Finely chop the scallions and tomatoes. If you would like, you can scoop the seeds out of the tomatoes, so they are more meaty. I like Roma tomatoes because they are less seedy and  watery, but in summer home grown are the best!

Drain the bulghur wheat and press the extra water out it. Mix the parsley, scallions, tomatoes, and wheat together in a large bowl.

Now the magic: Squeeze the lemons onto the mixture (watch those seeds!) Add the olive oil. How come I am not saying how much? Because some people like their tabouleh drier than others. So add a little at a time until it gets to the consistency you like. Salt and pepper to taste.

The authentic way to eat this is with leaves of lettuce (such as Boston lettuce) instead of with utensils.