Fattoush Salad is great way to put your garden summer herbs and stale bread to good use. This Middle Eastern fattoush salad with crispy pitta bread has a bold, tangy, lemony dressing and a great crunch.

Fattoush salad is a popular choice, especially in Lebanon population. The great thing about fattoush is that you can alternate different veggies according to your preferred taste and the season. In fact, fattoush is the official Lebanese peasant salad, farmer’s just add in suitable harvest ingredients that they have in their kitchens at home.  The variations ate endless; if you find the bite of pitta a touch spiceless, you can also use French or Italian bread instead to bolden the flavour and texture.

For more salad inspiration take a look at our other 7 best salads for shooting lunches.

FATTOUSH SALAD

Serves 12 alongside 1 or 2 main dishes

■ 6 pitta breads
■ 100g (31⁄2oz) butter, melted
■ 2 cucumbers
■ 2 red peppers
■ 2 green peppers
■ 4 ripe large tomatoes
■ 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
■ 200g (7oz) red radishes quartered
■ 50g (2oz) flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
■ 4 tbsp sunflower seeds
Dressing
■ juice of 2 lemons
■ 3 tbsp olive oil
■ 3 tsp sumac (a dried, tangy red berry available in some supermarkets) plus an extra pinch

Before preparing your fattoush salad, reheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Split the pitta in half horizontally and brush both sides with melted butter. Lay the bread on a baking sheet and bake till crisp (about eight minutes), turning halfway. Remove, allow to cool and then break the pitta into rough chunks.

In a large bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients. Cut the cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes into 1cm (2⁄5in) chunks. Keep all these ingredients separate till you are ready to serve. When ready, mix everything together and sprinkle extra sumac on top. This fattoush salad is excellent with grilled meats such as venison or lamb.