Bread and Purslane Salad

Ingredients

2 pita breads or 3 slices of stale white bread

1 small bunch purslane or rocket

1 small green sweet pepper

1 small cucumber, rinsed and finely diced

5 small tomatoes, quartered

4 spring onions, chopped

1 large handful of parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon sumak flakes (optional)

1 juice of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Toast the bread until crisp and then break it up into small uneven pieces.

Trim the purslane or rocket of its thick stalks and coarsely chop the leaves.

Trim and deseed the pepper and cut it into small dice.

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Beat the vinaigrette ingredients together and season.

Add this to the bowl and toss the salad to coat everything in the dressing.

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About

This Syrian salad is loved all around the Eastern Mediterranean coast. Bread, particularly stale bread, has always been used ingeniously in Mediterranean countries. The Italian panzanella is a salad not unlike fattoush. Often the bread is toasted and used with soups like the Castilian sopa de ajo or the Egyptian fata.The dark red flakes of sumak are a must for the authentic slightly sour tone of the salad. The moisture from the vegetables and the herbs will help moisten the bread (the original recipe uses much more oil so feel free to add more if you are not counting calories). However the dressing is best added at least 1 hour before serving so that the bread softens and absorbs all the other flavours.