This winter fattoush salad is full of fruits, vegetables, crispy spiced pita chips, and feta cheese to brighten up these cold winter days.
The first salad of 2015.
Maybe we should have a moment of silence or something?
When you market yourself as a mostly healthy (but often not – see yesterday’s cake) food consumer, producer, and recipe developer the first salad of the year probably requires something more grandiose than a random middle-of-the-month end-of-the-week off-the-cuff post.
A press release, maybe? 20/20 special? Intimate party with 10,000 of your closest friends and family?
(As an aside, this is what watching too much Scandal does to a person. Don’t be like me.)
I’ll settle for a three day weekend and an extra large bowl.
Please and thank you.
I normally dread the transition from fall to winter because it feels like all that is good in the world (i.e. pumpkin! pies! sweet potato casserole!) gets traded in for all that is boring, beige, and blah. It feels like nothing is in season and as someone who likes her food to have at least fifty shades of green, eating can be pretty disheartening.
Not anymore.
Because we have fattoush!
You may be confused because fattoush is probably the summeriest of summery salads. It’s all tomatoes, parsley, mint, cucumbers, lettuce – things that we probably won’t see for another, oh….six months.
If we’re being optimistic (<–always).
But does it have to be this way?
What if fattoush doesn’t want to be just a one trick pony? What if it wants more.
A fattoush for all seasons is what I’m selling.
Smitten Kitchen already covered fall for me, but winter? Winter I’ve got down.
Persimmons, roasted sweet potatoes, apples, and pomegranates party with some baby greens, feta cheese, and spiced up sumac pita croutons.
A drizzle of lemon juice later and you’ve got yourself a salad.
With color. When it’s less than 20 degrees outside.
Proof that miracles do happen. At least when it comes to fattoush.
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 pitas, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 2 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 pomegranate
- 2 persimmons, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
- 1 apple, cut into 1-inch dice
- juice of 1 meyer lemon
- 5 oz spinach and romaine mix
- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Toss sweet potato cubes with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and black pepper, to taste. Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until tender. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil and the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pita and almonds to the pan and saute until crispy, about 5 minutes. Toss with the sumac and red pepper flakes and remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potato, pomegranate arils, persimmons, and apple cubes. Sprinkle with meyer lemon juice and toss to coat.
- Toss the fruits and vegetables with the lettuce, feta cheese, and pita mixture. Serve at room temperature.
More with winter vegetables:
Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Wheat Berry Salad
Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils, Brussels Sprouts, and Goat Cheese
Chipotle Squash Salad with Jicama, Goat Cheese, and Avocado
From Around the Web:
Massaged Kale Salad with Parmesan, Pine Nuts, and Pomegranate from Taste Love and Nourish
Squash Salad with Lentils and Pomegranates with a Roasted Garlic Cashew Cream from What’s Cooking Good Looking
Arugula Salad with Red Cabbage, Pomegranate, Orange, and Pineapple from Life Made Sweeter
Roasted Nourish Bowl with Lemon Tahini Dressing from A Couple Cooks
Winter Persimmon Salad from Naturally Ella
This salad makes me feel OK with the fact that winter is going to be sticking around a bit longer…
You had me at sumac. <3
Fattoush with fruit?! I LOVE it!!!!
Yum! I totally love Mediterranean flavors during the winter times because they’re so bright and fresh! Love the spin you’ve put on your fattoush 🙂
I never though I say this but I’m I’m actually okay with this blah weather. Only as long as I can have more of this salad! I adore it.
Oh I LOVE it! I used to work at a stand at a farmer’s market and we made a killer fattoush salad. I could totally go for a winter version right about now. Those crispy pitas are the best.
First salad of 2015. Hell, we need to bow our heads and say a prayer of thanks because this is awesomeness. You made a fattoush salad with persimmons. . I LOVE this!
Congrats on your first salad of the year! I love it… best winter salad I’ve ever seen!
Miracles do happen. Even in winter! What a pretty salad. Pinned!
I love the flavour of this winter salad and it looks very beautiful too.
Have a wonderful weekend, Joanne!
Angie
I’ve never tried fattoush before – so thanks Joanne for highlighting it! I love persimmons and pomegranates but never had them together in a salad – this sounds so wonderful – but I still wish winter was over yesterday! Hope you have a wonderful weekend
Wintery fattoush? I’m all about it! Plus that cake from yesterday for dessert, obvi.
I love persimmons! Such an under appreciated fruit!
What a beautiful salad Joanne! Love the colors, flavors, and textures in there.
My kind of winter salad! Love this!
What a beautiful and flavorful first salad of 2015! Love it!
I always wonder what to do with persimmons. This looks perfect! I love the savory, salty, sweet combo.
This winter fattoush salad sounds amazing! Love the sumac spiced pita chips and the meyer lemon juice sounds perfect! What a beautiful salad!
You just made me realize. Persimmons. Persimmons are what are missing from my life.
My first salad of 2015 was just the other day…and I think I heard angels sing. What do you think will happen if this fattoush is my 2nd salad of 2015. I want a medal! Actually, I think the salad is reward enough. Pinned.
Oh wow!! This looks amazing!! SO healthy, nourishing and delicious!! Seriously, this is definitely an inspiration to eat healthy and well!! 🙂
Oh, the perfect salad – Joanne – for winter, so bright and cheery – like sunshine in a bowl and I do love fattoush, so will bookmark this for when it is winter down here and these ingredients are in season.
Hey, I for one will eat some fattoush in any weather! It’s so satisfying, with all the crispy pita bits and plenty of greens. I love the idea of adding sweet potato!
I can not tell you how good this looks!!! I am especially drawn to those pita chips!!
Due to my recently-developed persimmon obsession, this salad has my name written all over it!
I always make a salad from your site for family events and they’re always a hit. Can’t wait to try this one, it looks great!
Those colours will make it feel like summer 🙂
This salad has all the things! All the excellent, delicious, winter appropriate but still summery things.
This salad would definitely brighten up any cold day! Love all the flavours, so delicious and the colours are so vibrant and beautiful!
LOVE fattoush salad!!!! the flavors, the pita…love!!
I love this! It’s like a meal-in-a-bowl version of the persimmon and chicory salad we had for Christmas!
My husband loves persimmons- adding them to a salad is genius, and what a great way to use them.
Thanks Joanne !
This is gorgeous!!!
I love saying the name – fattoush. You salad is a bright spot on a winter day! Love all of the goodies you’ve put into it and the pita chips sound delicious.
Your fattoush salad looks so healthy and delicious, I love the pitas with it!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
This looks so good! I think you have just created the ultimate winter salad 🙂
I discovered that I love persimmons this fall. <3 This is a gorgeous salad! 🙂
That salad looks sooo good… Gonna make this… beautiful!!!
It was 4 degrees when I left the house this morning, so I’ll have mine with a cup of tea please!
salads in summer are just wonderful but in winter when they work they are really special – this is my sort of winter salad
Fattoush is my favorite salad, and my husband’s, too. He requests it basically every other day in the summer. I’ve been eyeing fall/winter versions and they look great, including this one. Pita and sumac 4lyfe.