Pita salad (Fattoush) (p. 159)

I had a good feeling about Pita salad (Fattoush) (p. 159) because I really like pita bread.  I'm not a big salad eater.  I want to be.  I really want to love salad.  But I don't.  

I started by tossing cucumber and salt in a colander and leaving it to drain for a half hour:

I also split some pitas and baked them until crisp:

I whisked together olive oil, lemon juice, a crushed garlic clove, salt, and black pepper.  The dressing was good, nicely spiced.  I'm sure I used more garlic than I was supposed to, I always do.

I mixed tomatoes, romaine lettuce, scallions, parsley, cilantro, and mint in a bowl:

And tossed it with the dressing.  The pita chips were added to the top and it was done!

The salad was easy and very tasty.  I like a crunch in a salad (I notice that they really care about texture on the cooking shows but I don't usually pay a whole lot of attention to that--even so, the crunch is nice in salad).  The dressing was perfect, although I would have liked to add some olives or feta or something briny.  I've never had fattoush before this--anyone have any experience with the dish?  Does this seem similar?

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