Fattoosh Salad, a Cooking Light Recipe Renovation | Recipe RenovatorSince I love black-eyed peas and salads of all kinds, I was instantly drawn to this Cooking Light recipe, which blends Mediterranean and Southern U.S. ingredients. I have never made a bread salad, called panzanella in Italy, so I was interested to see how my gluten-free bread would work. One word: Yum.

The renovation: I substituted Udi’s gluten-free whole grain bread for the pita. If you can get gluten-free pita, use that. Next time I will try a frozen gluten-free pizza crust, as it’s very similar to pita in thickness and texture and should toast up beautifully. I happened to have a little bit of dried sumac from a trip to the spice store. While I’m sure this would be fine without it, I know the sumac added a wonderful dimension to the dressing and is THE ingredient that makes this authentically Lebanese. I also soaked the onion in cold water to make it more palatable in raw form. I cooked the black-eyed peas using the Beany Brothy Deliciousness method in my pressure cooker.

Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, low-sodium, reduced-sugar diets

Not for:
migraine diets

Today’s post is part of our mission to help you rebuild your health through food and lifestyle choices. Look for posts on Mondays featuring gluten-free, sugar-free recipes made with healthy plant-based ingredients, Tuesday reviews, Wednesday essays, Thursday how-to’s, and Friday giveaways (when available).

Fattoosh Salad, a Cooking Light Recipe Renovation | Recipe Renovator

Southern Fattoush Salad

Bread salad is re-imagined with a blend of Southern and Middle-Eastern ingredients. Southern fattoush salad.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Lunch
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

Dressing

  • 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp mustard (prepared) whole-grain (use low-sodium mustard to reduce sodium)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice (fresh)
  • 1/2 tsp sumac (ground) optional
  • 2 cloves garlic small
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt (omit for low-sodium diets)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 6 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin) organic

Salad

  • 2 slices bread (gluten-free) or gluten-free pita, choose lower-sodium bread to reduce sodium)
  • 1 cup tomatoes chopped
  • 1 cup cucumbers English or Persian, sliced
  • 1/2 cup bell peppers red, diced
  • 1/2 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley (fresh) chopped
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves (fresh) chopped
  • 1/4 cup arugula chopped
  • 1/4 cup onions sweet, red, minced
  • 15 ounces black-eyed peas cooked, rinsed and drained, low-sodium

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6.
  • Combine dressing ingredients in a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well to combine.
  • Put the minced onion in a bowl of very cold water and soak for 10 minutes to remove the sharp taste. Drain thoroughly and pat dry with a kitchen or paper towel.
  • Arrange torn bread in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment. Spray lightly with cooking oil spray.
  • Bake for 7 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. Cool completely. Reserve one or two handfuls for topping the salad.
  • Combine tomato and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining toasted bread and dressing to bowl; toss well to coat. Top evenly with reserved 1/2 cup toasted bread. Serve immediately.

Notes

Per serving:  
  • 280 calories
  • 19 g fat
  • 9 g cholesterol
  • 678 mg sodium (68 mg sodium with salt omitted and no-salt-added beans.)
  • 386 mg potassium
  • 23 g carbohydrate
  • 5 g fiber
  • 6 g sugars
  • 5 g protein
  • 7  Weight Watchers Points Plus
To reduce sodium further, use salt-free black-eyed peas, lower-sodium mustard and gluten-free bread. Analysis was done with regular canned beans.
You might also like versions from:
Kalyn's Kitchen
Taste of Beirut
Mama's Lebanese Kitchenn
101 Cookbooks
Required FTC disclosure: I am part of the Cooking Light Bloggers' Connection. I was not paid to write this post.