Today we are Reviving Stale Sourdough with Fresh Take on traditionnal Fattoush Salad
Sourdough bread, with its tangy flavor and chewy texture, is a beloved staple in many households. However, even the most enthusiastic sourdough enthusiasts occasionally find themselves with a leftover loaf that’s gone stale. Instead of letting it go to waste, consider transforming that old stale sourdough into something delicious and refreshing, like a homemade Stale Sourdough Fattoush salad.
Today, we’ll explore how you can give new life to your stale sourdough bread by using it to create a super delicious Stale Sourdough Fattoush Salad.
The Art of Reviving Stale Sourdough
Before we dive into the Stale Sourdough Fattoush salad recipe, let’s first address how to revive your stale sourdough bread. Stale bread doesn’t have to mean inedible bread. There are several methods to bring back its freshness:
Season and toast:
For this salad, I mixed stale sourdough cubes with some extra virgin olive oil, sumac, and salt. And I toast them in the air fryer (you can use the oven) until they turn golden brown. This will not only revive their texture but also add a delightful crunch to your Stale Sourdough Fattoush Salad.
Use a Moist Ingredient:
Incorporate a moist ingredient into your salad. Tomatoes or cucumbers in the case of the fattouch salad, which can help soften the stale bread when mixed together.
Stale Sourdough Fattoush Salad: A Mediterranean Delight
Fattoush is a traditional Middle Eastern salad known for its vibrant colors, fresh flavors, and a hint of tartness. It’s a versatile dish that can be customized with various ingredients. And it’s the perfect canvas for using up stale sourdough bread. The traditional version is exactly the same ingredients but it uses toasted or fried pitta bread instead of the sourdough bread.
The perfect side dish with every dish:
This Stale Sourdough Fattoush salad is not just a dish; it’s a flavor-packed, refreshing experience that elevates any main course it accompanies. With its vibrant colors, crisp textures, and a symphony of flavors, Stale Sourdough Fattoush is the ideal side dish to complement a wide range of main courses. Whether you’re serving grilled meats, vegetarian dishes, or even seafood, Stale Sourdough Fattoush brings a burst of freshness and balance to your meal.
This sourdough fattoush salad is the perfect side for all my Mediterranean-inspired main dishes.
I like to use my air fryer to quickly and evenly toast and revive the stale sourdough bread with minimal oil. I can also adjust settings for achieving the desired crispiness without the need to turn on the whole oven for small batch of bread.
Stale sourdough fattoush salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 3-4 cups of old sourdough bread cut into 5 cm cubes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sumac
For the salad:
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sumac
- ¼ tsp salt
- 500 g cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup capsicum any color cut into bit size
- 1 cup 2-3 Lebanese cucumbers cut into bite size
- ½ cup radish sliced into rondelle (round) slice
- ½ cup parsley only leaves picked
- ½ cup fresh thyme only leaves
- 1 cup Rocca leaves cut into bite size if big
- 1 cup purslane bakle, only leaves
- 1 cup lettuce chopped into bite size
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp red grapes vinegar
- 1 lemon juice
- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp sumac
Instructions
Step 01: toasting the bread
- Start by tossing the bread cubes with the olive oil, sumac and salt. Air fry in a preheated air fryer at 200 C◦ for 8 to 10 min until golden and crispy. Set aside to cool down while we prepare the other ingredients.
Step 02: prepare the salad base
- Wash all your veggies thoroughly and drain well before start the chopping. Slice the onion first and sprinkle on it the sumac and salt and rub it well until it is well coated with the sumac and salt mixture and set aside. Chop all your veggies and add to a large mixing bowl, add the rubbed onion and mix all together well before adding the bread, sauce and pomegranate seeds.
Step 03: final toss
- Add the bread and the pomegranate seeds, and drizzle the sauce on top of it and mix everything together until all the veggies are well coated with the dressing and the bread start to soak up the dressing and soften. Don’t over mix so the veggies and bread won’t break too much.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Bread: you can use the same recipe and toast any available bread in your kitchen. You can also use the pitta bread for the more traditional recipe, make sure you add it at the end before serving and on top of the salad not mixed with it, because it will wilt easily.
- Toasting: you can toast your bread in the oven instead of the airfryer, on 190C◦ for 15 min flipping mid-way. And you can even toast them in a frying pan on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size. You have to keep tossing for an even toasting.
- Cucumbers: if you are lucky enough to find Lebanese wild cucumber (mekte) make sure you try it with the fattouch for the most traditional authentic version.
- Capsicum: you can use a mix of different colored capsicum or whatever color available.
- Vinegar: you can use apple cider vinegar if the grape version not available. And you can adjust the tanginess of the dressing to your liking by adding more or less.
- Prepare ahead of time: you can toss your bread ahead of time and store separately in a zip lock bag or airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature or 6 months in the freezer. And wash and drain and cut also your veggies ahead of time and mix without the sauce and store in the fridge for up to 4 days if stored correctly in airtight container. The dressing also can be made ahead of time and stored for up to a week in a jar in the fridge.
- Assembling: store all the ingredients separately, and whenever you want you can even mix a small solo batches for the whole week. Perfect for meal prep, as you can enjoy every day a fresh salad with no need to wash and chop every day.