In our neighborhood, a casual Middle Eastern place sells the classics: falafel, shawarma, shish kebab, etc.

We used to have a regular lunch of the spreads—baba ghannouj and hummus—plus grape leaves and tabouli.

Then, one day, we decided to order something new. Looking at the menu, we chose fattoush.

Fattoush (alternatively spelled fattush, fatush, fattoosh and fattouche) is a Lebanese/Levantine* bread salad of mixed seasonal greens with a dressing of lemon juice and oil (also see panzanella, Italian bread salad).

The vegetables typically include lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumbers, and radishes, plus mint and parsley and spices (paprika and sumac).

Fattoush is distinguished by its crunchy croutons, made from stale pita (or other flatbread). The thinness of the bread makes the croutons much crunchier than any made from Western breads (photos #1 and #2).

Lebanese farmers would fry leftover pita scraps in a olive oil, to get life from stale bread. They’d toss whatever in-season vegetables and herbs that were on hand, and voilà!

After our first fattoush—guilt-free salad, light lemony dressing, and crunch throughout, we were hooked!
 
 
FATTOUSH SALAD AT HOME

As you can tell from the description above, it’s no more trouble whipping up fattoush than any green salad with homemade croutons.

Just cut the pita into crouton-size squares, and toast them in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 375°F and place the pita squares on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

The other thing you may question on the ingredients list is the sumac. Most of us don’t have it. Substitute lemon zest to approximate sumac’s tart flavor.
 
 
RECIPE: FATTOUSH SALAD

This updated fattoush concept (photo #3) was developed by Lisa Lin of Healthy Nibbles and Bits, and shared with us by the Idaho Potato Commission.

In addition to the buttermilk drizzle (buttermilk pays homage to Middle Eastern yogurt), Lisa added garlic, onions and scallions; all three are not used in a classic fattoush.

She also replaced the pita croutons with crisp potato croutons. The result: a modern take on an ancient recipe.

Ingredients
 
For The Salad

 
For The Dressing

 
For The Potato “Croutons”

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. In a bowl, mix the sliced potatoes, 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.

2. LINE a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the potatoes on top and bake for 20 minutes. Quickly stir the potatoes, and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the potatoes have browned. When the potatoes are almost done…

3. TOSS the chopped lettuce, bell pepper, cucumbers, radishes, onions, scallions, parsley and mint.

4. MIX the buttermilk, salt, granulated garlic, sumac, and paprika in a small bowl, mix. In another bowl, mix the lemon juice, 2-1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and vinegar.

When the potatoes are ready…

5. LET them cool for a few minutes before tossing with the vegetables. Drizzle some of the buttermilk and vinaigrette on the salad and toss. Taste and add more buttermilk and vinaigrette as desired.

6. TOP with the potato croutons and serve immediately.

________________

*The Levant is a name created post-World War I for the region that comprises modern-day Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and Syria. Here’s more about it. The recipe is attributed by some to “the Levant,” but some food historians attribute it to northern Lebanon.

[1] A delicious fusion fattoush salad from McCormick, with some added feta cheese borrowed from the Greek Salad, and baby arugula from Italian cuisine. Here’s the recipe from McCormick (photo © McCormick).

[2] Crisp pita croutons are tossed into the fattoush salad; they’re not just a garnish for the top. They’re so crunchy that they don’t soften in the dressing (photo © Cyrus Roepers | Wikipedia | CC-BY-SA 3.0).

[3] An updated fattoush concept, with potato croutons replacing pita, and a buttermilk drizzle (photo © Idaho Potato).

[4] Yukon Gold Idaho® potatoes. Here’s more about them (photo © Idaho Potato).

[5] Fresh mint, torn or snipped into small pieces, adds something special to this salad (photo © Good Eggs).

[6] Snipped parsley perks up any salad. You can use the curly or flat leaf variety (photo © Good Eggs).

‡You can make buttermilk with by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a one-cup measure, and adding enough milk to measure 1 cup. In many recipes, you can substitute plain yogurt for buttermilk.

‡‡Granulated garlic is used for the crunch; but you can substitute a 3/4 the amount of minced fresh garlic.

[1] Canned tomatoes are typically plum tomatoes (photo © Hunt’s).

[2] First Place: Bianco di Napoli canned tomatoes (photo © Instacart).

[3] Second Place: Market Pantry canned tomatoes (photo © Target).

[4] Third Place: San Merican canned tomatoes (photo © Whole Foods).

Many of us used canned tomatoes for tomato sauce, chili, enchiladas, meatloaf glaze, shakshuka and other dishes, including tomato soup.

When you’re scouting the pantry to put a meal together, you can add canned tomatoes when cooking rice and other grains, as a “simmer sauce,” to jazz up boxed mac and cheese, and to pop into a casserole, for example.

Canned tomatoes are low in calories and high in fiber, iron and vitamins B6 and C.

They’re also an excellent source of lycopene, an antioxidant that can help to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and macular degeneration.

But not all brands are created equal says the New York Times, which recently conducted a taste test among 12 brands of canned tomatoes.

All are available nationwide and/or online.

The brands were rank by flavor and balance: natural sweetness and acidity.

Prices vary, and you can see them in the full article.

However, the top brands could be two to three times more expensive as the least expensive brands.

Here are the recommendations: You can read the full article here.

We hasten to add that one tasting at one point in time is not the final word.

There are other taste tests from highly regarded food sites that have different rankings; and you may have your own ranking.
 
 
THE BEST CANNED TOMATOES

We weren’t familiar with the first two, but the number three choice is our own favorite brand.

1. Bianco di Napoli

2. Market Pantry

3. San Merican Tomato (S.M.T.) Whole Peeled
 
 
BETTER THAN AVERAGE CANNED TOMATOES

4. Cento Certified Peeled Tomatoes – San Marzano Tomatoes from Italy

5. Hunt’s Whole Plum Tomatoes
 
 
AVERAGE CANNED TOMATOES

6. Whole Foods 365 Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes

7. Rega Rega San Marzano Tomatoes
 
 
THE LEAST-LIKED CANNED TOMATOES

Five of the twelve brands landed in this category. All but 365 Brand were as expensive as the better brands.

8. Organico Bello Whole Peeled Tomatoes

9. Bella Terra Organic Italian Whole Peeled Tomatoes

10. Whole Foods 365 Whole Peeled Tomatoes

11. Muir Glen Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes

12. Contadina Whole Roma Tomatoes With Basil
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TOMATOES <

We love this idea from Ardor Restaurant, located in the West Hollywood Edition hotel in Los Angeles.

This vegetable-forward restaurant uses organic ingredients, prepared simply but (as you can tell from the photo), impressively.

We’d also like to give a shout out to Chef John Fraser, a California native whose cuisine enthralled us when he helmed restaurants in New York City.

Here’s our copycat recipe of his beet “rose.”
 
 
RECIPE: ROASTED BEET ROSE SALAD

Chef Fraser serves this beet “rose” with whipped feta cheese and rose water. We used whipped goat cheese and basil olive oil.

You can substitute hummus or Greek yogurt spread.

The goat cheese or feta spreads are delicious on vegetable sandwiches (especially tomato and basil), crackers, atop baked potatoes, and most anything.

To roast the beets, we used this recipe from Ina Garten.

Ingredients

 
For The Salad

 
Preparation

You can roast the beets and/or make the whipped goat cheese a day in advance.

1. ROAST the beets and cool. Set aside.

2. MAKE the goat cheese spread. Mince the garlic and add it with the rest of the ingredients, except the chives, to a food processor.

3. PULSE until completely combined. Stir in the chives. Set aside.

[1] Beet rose salad, inspired by Ardor Restaurant (photo © Ardor | Los Angeles)

[2] For this special salad, look for special greens (photo of mizuna mix © Good Eggs).

[3] Herbed goat cheese (photo © iGourmet).

5. PLACE the whipped goat cheese into a serving dish or ramekin.

6. TOSS the salad very lightly with the vinaigrette and mound onto the center of a large plate or small platter.

7. MAKE an opening in the center of the salad and arrange the beets into “rose petals.” Start with the center petals and work out. If you have extra chives (cut or uncut), place them in the very middle, where the stamens would be.

8. DRIZZLE the beets with a small amount of basil, lemon or orange olive oil. Serve.

[1] Spring Panzanella Salad, an Italian classic (photos #1 and #2 © Tending The Table | California Olive Ranch).

[2] Close-up on the salad.

[3] Radicchio (this variety is Trevisol; photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Arbequina EVOO (photo © California Olive Ranch).

We love all kinds of bread, and that includes biscuits, pizza crusts, and the crunchy category: croutons, crackers, matzo, roti—you get the picture.

Today’s tip includes homemade croutons, which can be made from many types of bread.

We typically use artisan loaves, like sourdough or rustic country bread. But you can use any loaf that can be cubed; French or Italian bread, for example.

Whenever we have too much bread left over from an event, we’ll most certainly make panzanella the next day.

Panzanella (pahn-za-NEL-ah) is a Tuscan-style “bread salad” made with a loaf of day-old (or older*) Italian bread.

It was originally cubed into large croutons that were soaked in vinaigrette to soften them.

It started out as peasant food, when every scrap of food counted, including hardened, leftover bread.

Here’s the history of panzanella.

Today, in an era where most of us can toss the stale bread, the process is slightly different: People toast cubes of day-old bread, to make croutons.

The following recipe came to us from California Olive Ranch, producers of wonderful EVOOs. They adapted the recipe from one by Sasha Swerdloff of Tending The Table.

Panzanella can be a first course or a main, vegetarian or topped with proteins. There are more recipes below.
 
 
RECIPE: SPRING PANZANELLA SALAD

California Olive Ranch recommends Arbequina olive oil in the dressing.

They like the Arbequina varietal because of its subtle fruitiness and herbal notes. Those flavors pair nicely with fresh produce.

When you buy a blended olive oil that tastes fruity, that flavor is most likely contributed by Arbequina olives.

Ingredients For 2 Mains or 4 Side

For The Croutons

 
For The Dressing

 
For The Salad

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F.

2. PREPARE the bread: Toss the bread, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in the extra virgin olive oil, adding more as needed. Spread into a single layer on a baking sheet and toast until crisp, 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

3. MAKE the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until emulsified. Season to taste and set aside.

4. ASSEMBLE the salad base: Combine the greens, snap peas, sunflower seeds, and parmesan cheese in a large salad bowl. Add the dressing and toss to coat, then top with the croutons.

5. FINISH with an extra drizzle of olive oil, as desired. Serve and enjoy!
 

MORE PANZANELLA RECIPES

________________

*When the bread has no preservatives, we’ve found that one day or two days after purchase is fine for croutons. By the third day, the bread tends to be rock-hard and we can’t slice it. When this happens, though, stick it in the food processor and make high-quality breadcrumbs.
 
  

We are big fans of the turkey products from Diestel Family Ranch, a premier breeder of whole turkeys and other turkey treats. There are:

 
Why are Diestel products better?

The company is committed to raising the leanest, cleanest, most delicious birds that money can buy. The meat is succulent and tender.

There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives, no hormones, antibiotics, or growth stimulants.

Everything is produced according to strict animal welfare and environmental standards. The birds are raised in generous spaces where they can roam (photo #5).

And for 70 years, this has been a family business—now in the fourth generation. Great people, great products.
 
 
WHAT’S NEW: TURKEY MEATLOAF

One of America’s favorite comfort foods is now on the menu: one-pound turkey meatloaf, ready to heat and eat.

They let you put dinner on the table in 20 minutes or less.

There are two varieties:

 
Both fully cooked loaves are made from premium coarse-ground turkey, and have a sweet tomato glaze.

The SRP for a 16-ounce meatloaf is is $8.99 in stores, $13.95 online.
 
 
WHAT IS SOUS VIDE?

Sous vide (soo VEED, meaning “under vacuum”) is a French cooking technique, used in professional kitchens for some time but now becoming more popular in American kitchens.

It is used by the greatest chefs to assure consistency in turning out fine meals. Portions are prepared in individual, sealed plastic bags that are cooked in a water bath.

This ensures perfectly cooked meat, tender and moist. Here’s more about it.
 
 
ANOTHER FAVORITE: TURKEY BREAST

We like roast turkey more often than Thanksgiving or or Christmas dinners.

While we don’t need a whole turkey, Diestel’s Holiday Turkey is always a treat.

It’s available year-round: a cook-in-bag boneless turkey breast that comes brined, seasoned and ready to roast.

And it’s soooo good.

So don’t wait until the holidays: Cook one now!
 
 
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DIESTEL PRODUCTS

Visit the company website, DiestelTurkey.com.

See the family and the turkeys for yourself.

The products are available at retailers nationwide, but you can also order them on the website.

[1] Diestel Traditional Turkey Meatloaf (all photos © Diestel).

[2] The package to look for.

[3] Diestel Florentine Meatloaf.

[4] The package to look for.

[5] Diestel turkeys, enjoying their day.