Fattoush: actually quite skinny

Sometimes, all you can do for dinner is chop up some veg and throw it in a bowl.  I'm not judging you.  If I had the energy to put an eggplant lasagna together every night, I'd have 5 times the burns on my hands and I wouldn't sleep. Ever. Because that would be a lot of energy.

Enter Fattoush.  Fattoush is a Middle Eastern salad made of complete awesome.  It's a bit lemony, onion-y, super crisp and loaded with fresh parsley and pita chips. I was pointed toward the recipe by Raed, who ate it frequently growing up.  It's crazy easy, comes with shortcuts to make it even easier, and unlike most salads, it will fill you up. I know it seems like just a salad, but it is so much more than that. I promise. Go make it.

When I make it for dinner, I generally make some baked chicken because it's an easy protein.  I bake my chicken breasts like I bake my whole chicken - about 425 degrees until it turns a beautiful golden color, nothing but olive oil, salt and pepper.

Fattoush

1/2 English cucumber, cut into cubes (or 1 small seeded cucumber, cubed)
2 7 inch pita breads (or 1 bag plain pita chips.  I buy the chips because, frankly, I can't keep pita bread in the house with Raed running around and it tends to be cheaper. OH, and it's way easier than fussing with oven toast)
1/2 head romaine lettuce, cut into bite size pieces
3 tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, chopped fine (including the greens)
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced fine
salt and pepper to taste

To make the pita chips:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Separate the pita bread and bake on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, then break them into pieces.

To make the salad:
In the bottom of your salad bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper.  Add the cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, green pepper, parsley, cilantro and mint and toss together.  Toss in the pita chips just before serving.

How easy was that?