Fattoush

One summer afternoon a few years back I had lunch at Cafe Santorini in Old Pasadena. On the menu was fattoush, a salad with purslane and toasted pita bread. It was bright and lemony and I loved it. I returned to have it again a few months later, and it was off the menu. Apparently purslane is not easy to come by.

So when I saw a packet of golden purslane seed at the garden center back in February, I knew I had to try it.

Purslane is a lemony-flavored edible annual succulent that grows well in warm weather and well-drained soil. I sprinkled some seed in a pot on our patio (next to the pot of watercress) and hoped for the best.

And the other day, I picked my first harvest in order to make this delicious salad.

I'm going to tell you what I did, even though I'm sure it's not a traditional recipe. But I really enjoyed it.

For the dressing, I whisked together the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the zest of 1/4 lemon, 1 small clove of garlic that I crushed but left whole, a sprinkle of salt, and 2 tbsp of olive oil. I let it rest to get garlicky, but not overly so. (I removed the clove of garlic before I added the dressing to the salad.)

Then I cut a pita in half to make 2 circles. I brushed each half with olive oil and toasted them under the grill until crisp. When they were cool, I tore one half in pieces and saved the other half for another use.

Into a bowl I put about 3 cups of home-grown golden purslane, largest stems removed, and torn into bite sized pieces. I added 1/2 cup cooked white beans, 2 tbsp chopped sweet onion, 2 tbsp cubed feta, and a heaping tablespoon of mint. I tossed it with half the dressing and the pita pieces. I let it rest a few minutes before serving with the remaining dressing on the side.

Makes 1 large serving.