This bread salad is the favorite everyday, Lebanese salad. Sumac (see page 7) gives it a distinctive sharp flavor. The old traditional way was to moisten the toasted bread with water and a little lemon juice before soaking it further with the dressing, which made it deliciously soft and soggy. Nowadays, the toasted bread is broken into pieces and added to the salad at the last minute while it is crisp. You can buy purslane and small cucumbers (they have a better flavor than our large ones) in Middle Eastern stores.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6 to 8

　　1 1/2 pita breads

　　1 romaine lettuce, cut into 1/2-inch ribbons

　　About 2 cups purslane leaves or lamb’s lettuce (mâche)

　　4 firm ripe tomatoes, cut into medium pieces

　　4 small cucumbers, peeled and cut into thick slices

　　1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into small slices

　　1 1/2 mild onions or 8 scallions, chopped

　　Large handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

　　4 to 5 sprigs of mint, shredded

　　1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　Juice of 1 lemon

　　Salt and black pepper

　　1 tablespoon ground sumac

　　

Step 1

Cut around the pita and open them out. Toast them under the broiler or in the oven until they are crisp; turn them over once. Break them into small pieces in your hands.

　　

Step 2

Put all the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl. For the dressing, mix the olive oil with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and sumac.

　　

Step 3

Just before serving, sprinkle the toasted pita pieces over the salad and toss the salad well with the dressing.

　　Arabesque