Fattoush with za'atar croutons

We are counting the days until we leave for vacation and I am simultaneously counting the calories in my food and the kilos on my scale. I am not too happy with the result, I'm telling you. Also, after that cheese and meat fest last weekend, my body is begging me to detox a little and eat healthier. If I happen to shed a couple of pounds whilst pampering my insides, no one is complaining right?

I went over to My New Roots (because let's face it, Sarah radiates such healthy beauty you cannot not follow her advice) to read up on detoxing, fasting (just daydreaming) and came across quite a few recipes I could not resist. Because, although many are a little too healthy for my palate, others are lovely and mouthwatering even if you are not on a health kick. So now I am drinking a glass of warm water with lemon juice every morning on an empty stomach and I am trying to eat as healthy as possible, cutting out any excess and getting ideas from her.

Out goes cheese with natural molds perfect for polenta, enter fattoush.

Fattoush, as most of you probably already know, is a Levantine salad typically made with parsley, mint, tomatoes and cucumbers (or other seasonal vegetables). Stale, preferably fried pita bread and sumac are key ingredients and the vegetables and herbs are more coarsely chopped than for tabbouleh. Fatt in Arabic means crushed. It is a refreshing salad with a pungent, sour flavour imparted by the sumac (a powder whose name is the same as the dried berries it is made with, that grow in Mediterranean countries) and lemon juice. It is salad with pizaaz, a must for the hot months. I, being me, of course made some small variations that should however not bother fattoush integralists too much. I am sure they will forgive me for using up some stale bread we brought back from the mountains instead of pita. Nobody likes waste, right? And they may even feel flattered that I dressed these croutons up with sumac's more glamorous cousin, Ms. Za'atar.

Instead of using sumac in the dressing I liberally brushed the bread with olive oil and za'atar and toasted it in the oven. And I sprinkled some more of it over the fattoush itself. Za'atar being a mix of sesame seeds (I toasted mine), sumac, salt, thyme and oregano (but there are as many variations as there are families making it I believe. Please correct me if I am wrong). To top it all off, I made a dressing with garlic-infused olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and a tablespoon of maple syrup (remember, no sugar these days). I would have used honey if it had been in a more liquid form.

Ingredients

Fattoush

1 red pepper

5 ripe San Marzano tomatoes

2 cucumbers

1 large bunch of Italian parsley

1 large bunch of mint

bread for croutons (preferably pita bread)

za'atar

olive oil

Za'atar (a good amount for beginners)

1/4 cup sesame seeds (toasted if you like)
1/4 cup sumac
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp salt

Dressing (to taste)

Garlic infused olive oil (or you can use minced garlic for a stronger flavor)

lemon juice

lemon zest

salt

about 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Chop the ingredients coarsley and mix. Slice the bread, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with za'atar on both sides and toast in a pre-heated oven on the grill setting at about 200°C. Keep a close eye on it because it burns quickly. Turn the bread over when it starts getting dark. When the bread cools, break into croutons. Toss fattoush with dressing and then with the croutons.