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Get excited. About salad. On a Monday.

We can do this.

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In a purely rational sense, there’s just no other day for it.

On Tuesdays we’re kinda sorta pulling our hair out because the weekend will never happen. I mean…FOUR.DAYS.AWAY. Might as well be a lifetime.

By Wednesday we feel like we deserve a reward for getting halfway through. (Breakfast margaritas? Yes.)

Thursdays are just so close yet so far.

And Fridays are all about the celebratory cupcake. Salads are the last things on our mind, unless by salad you actually mean brie with strawberries and arugula. Truth.

Weekends are just a reckless abandon eating free-for-all.

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So, cliche as it is, Mondays are it for salad-induced joy.

And given that we have five days of probably-non-functional experiments ahead of us…we have to learn to get happy about the little things.

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Things like crispy bits of pita croutons.

Sweet and crunchy bites of bell pepper mixed with sweet and juicy bites of cherry tomatoes.

A tangy delicious dressing made with mustard we only just realized was expired…a week later…when our boyfriend tried to use it as a fry dipping sauce and actually took the time to read the label, which some of us never rarely do.

I mean, really. Who could have even known that mustard has an expiration date on it. Am I right?

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And yes, we all think it’s a bit odd that he was using mustard for dipping his French fries, but when you consider that both mayo and ketchup make me gag upon sight, then you’ll understand why it was either that, hoisin sauce or sriracha.

I, personally, would have gone with the latter but some of us have the heat tolerance of a three year old.

Ahem.

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Anyways. I probably would have never made this had it not been for one of my favorite bloggers, Ashley of Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen, giving it such a rave review.

So now I feel like I need to spread the salad love.

Go forth! And get this into your Monday. It will make it so much better.

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One year ago…Margarita Cupcakes
Two years ago…Caprese Sticks and Homemade Marshmallow S’more Sticks, Chocolate Turtle Bean Tostadas, Blackberry Lime Bread Pudding
Three years ago…Crispy Gnocchi with Green Beans and Peas, Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches with Tahini Sauce
Four years ago…Pea and Chicken Risotto, Linguine with Red Peppers, Green Onions and Pine Nuts

Southern Fattoush
serves 4-6, adapted from Cooking Light June 2013

Ingredients
For the dressing: 

  • 4 tsp cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp honey mustard
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp ground sumac
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the salad: 

  • 2 (6-inch) pitas, torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 5 oz arugula
  • 1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400.
  2. To make the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, honey mustard, lemon juice, sumac, garlic cloves, salt, and black pepper. Gradually drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly.
  3. To make the salad, arrange the pita in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. Cool completely.
  4. Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, parsley, mint, arugula, and black-eyed peas in a large bowl. Add in the toasted pita and dressing, tossing to coat. Serve immediately.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays over at Kahakai Kitchen!

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You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
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71 Responses to Southern Fattoush

  1. Beth says:

    I’m thinking I should probably check the expiration dates on my mustard jars in the fridge.
    Happy Monday!

  2. Simply Life says:

    This does look like an excellent salad to start the week with!

  3. Salad Mondays.. A great way to start the week, Joanne. 🙂

  4. I would honestly be all about this any day of the week. Colorful salads are definitely worth getting excited about!

  5. I love your rationale for why Mondays are for salads – I completely agree!
    I would eat this one in a heartbeat. I love salads and am always looking for new ingredient and flavor combos. This looks fantastic!

  6. Johanna GGG says:

    Mustard has a useby date – oh dear I have one that was bought by mistake and has sat there a bit long – must check it

    Mondays for salads – yes please – actually I could eat salad every day of the week – E might manage it if it was hot salad – sigh!

  7. LOL, well when you put it like that, I guess I have no excuse not to eat a salad today! Love all of the colors in this one, it’s gorgeous 🙂 And that dressing sounds amazing!

  8. Aggie says:

    Oh yes, love salad for Mondays (and every day!). I have never made Fattoush – but have been wanting to! This version looks so delicious!

  9. You had me at Southern. I’m a black eyed pea fan! Big time!

  10. Foodycat says:

    I’ve eaten out of date mustard. I really don’t care! This is a very good-looking salad. Especially those wonderful tomatoes!

  11. I like your Monday and I like your descriptions for the rest of the week! Wonderful salad!!

  12. LOVVVVVE salads on Mondays ! You got it right girlfriend! They just go hand in hand together, especially after all the grilling of meats on every weekend!

  13. Amy says:

    It was 111 yesterday. I can’t get enough salad right now! M-F bring it.

  14. Marcia says:

    of course I made a salad for lunch!

  15. Jessie says:

    I’ve never thought of Mondays as being salad days, but I love the idea! Especially with this delicious summer-friendly salad 🙂

    I’ve definitely used expired mustard before. Seriously, how can mustard expire?

  16. sandra says:

    I dunno, salads on Friday work for me, but I like to mix it up… This one is lovely and I really like your close up shots of those beautiful tomatoes! Yumm!

  17. sandra says:

    And mustard on fries is totally the way to go.

  18. Kristin says:

    This sounds and looks delicious. It’s already 100* here so I’ve been in need of new salad type recipes.
    Kristin @ Holy Cannoli Recipes

  19. I saw this in cookinglight and was debating about it. You’ve made it look so fresh and delicious I can’t wait to try it now!

  20. Such a gorgeous, summery, colorful recipe for this time of year. This looks delicious, Joanne!

  21. Gwen says:

    Well I’m sure not going to wait until next Monday to make this salad! I love black eyed peas and I’ll bet my kiddos will even love this w that yummy dressing.

  22. Such a bright and colorful salad, how can you NOT want to make it?

  23. Monica says:

    Love black eye peas! This reminds me to pick some up!

  24. Pam says:

    Loving this salad but I can’t believe you don’t like ketchup & mayo with your fries.

  25. i’m all about a salad today 😉 haha. lovely!!

  26. I am trying to collect some great salad recipes for the warmer days – this looks great!

  27. Fattoush salad is one of my favourites! What a fun twist on it—the tomatoes give your photos such a warm hue and those black eyed peas make me homesick for the ol’ South 🙂

  28. Karen says:

    I could eat this on any day of the week… looks perfect!

  29. Erica says:

    This is my kind of salad, Joanne! Love black eyed peas….Love every ingredient you used here!

  30. Eileen says:

    The real question is: who doesn’t get excited about salad, Monday or otherwise? I certainly get super excited about fattoush! In grad school I used to get these wraps filled with fattoush and salty, melty cheese for lunch and eat them outside in mid-February–SO good. Worth sitting outside in mid-Feb in the midwest, even. I love the idea of punching up the protein with black-eyed peas!

  31. I could totally get excited for this salad. Love the black eyed peas in this too…yum!

  32. Esi says:

    So funny, I’ve had fatoush on the brain lately since catching an old episode of Nigella. Nice variation of it!

  33. I just had salad but it not as fancy as this – the sumac sounds awesome!

  34. Jeanette says:

    What a beautiful salad Joanne – I’ve yet to try fattoush but it’s definitely on my list to try!

  35. Dixya says:

    love your enthusiasm about salad on Monday. Its always a great feeling to start off the week on a healthy note because we all know what happens as we wait for Friday 😛

  36. this looks delicious. my attempt to try salad Monday was less than delicious. will try harder next week!

  37. What a pretty salad! Perfect for those summer nights when you don’t want to put too much heat in the house. Looks delicious!

  38. You’re going to make me love green things, aren’t you!

  39. Christine says:

    Excellent looking salad! The dressing is just in time since I’m switching to summer “salad mode” and will not see the inside of my oven till November. Pita will have to toast in toaster oven. I’ll have to try to find some ground sumac, just looked it up and sounds interesting.

  40. Mustard expires? Well… I guess I should go check the bottles in my fridge. They’ve been in there…a while.

  41. I’ve never had fattoush but adding pita to a salad makes it so much more appealing! And if it makes you feel better, I ate expired mustard unknowingly for a few months before I realized it was expired, and then continued to eat it a bit more since I realized it hadn’t hurt me yet haha, so I think you’ll be fine 🙂

  42. Dining Alone says:

    I am down with salads any day of the week, and this looks great! I never check expiration dates, that is what I have eyes and a nose for 🙂

  43. Oh man, if you only knew how many expired condiments are in my fridge… This looks like such an awesome salad, and so so perfect for this warm weather!

  44. My husband gets excited about salads. Alas, I don’t. Unless, they have garden fresh sweet tomatoes and a non-bottled dressing. This salad, I could get excited about. Um, did I miss something in my absence? Me thinks I see a new blog design? Whatever it is, I like it!
    PS: Thank you for tweeting Wikipedia. 😉

  45. I had no idea mustard expires! now this is a salad I could seriously love!

  46. Sippity Sup says:

    Why did it take a new Yorker to intro me to something I SHOULD have known about? GREG

  47. Blond Duck says:

    How do you get your cucumbers so thin?

  48. Hotly Spiced says:

    That’s a great summery looking salad and the tomatoes look delicious. I can imagine this being a very refreshing meal on a hot day xx

  49. Juliana says:

    What a beautiful and delicious looking salad you have here Joanne, I would love to have this salad for lunch…
    Have a great week 😀

  50. That Girl says:

    I always get excited about salads!

  51. Deborah says:

    I am all about salads lately – can’t get enough. This looks just perfect!

  52. Katerina says:

    This not a salad, this is a meal by itself and it is right up my alley especially this time of year when hot weather makes us want something light and refreshing!

  53. Lynn says:

    This does look light and refreshing!

  54. Such a good point about Mondays and salads, never really thought about it that way… and you know, since there is bread in this salad, it is definitely acceptable!

  55. Sam says:

    I *love* fattoush! Also, it’s really good to know I’m not the only person who recently discovered that mustard actually does go bad. Who knew?

  56. Barbara says:

    Good grief. I bet I’ve had that mustard in my fridge for years! That’s where I keep it, so maybe it’s OK?
    Love this healthy salad, Joanne. And yes, Monday’s are definitely days to get back to healthy eating!

  57. My fridge is a condiment graveyard! I have a bottle of ketchup in there from three years ago. This salad looks like it cure the Monday blues with a dose of healthy.

  58. Ashley says:

    Aww! Thanks for the shout-out, my dear! I’m so glad you enjoyed this, too. And my mustard may have been a tad expired, too. AHEM! Great minds… 😉 And speaking of… we need to do another cooking date soon! xo

  59. grace says:

    this is really quite clever! although black-eyed peas may turn some people off, i enjoy them and would devour something like this!

  60. I need to get more excited about salads. I think if I made fun ones like this I would be!

  61. As far as salads go, this one looks really appetizing! I bet the crunchy pita pieces really make it!

  62. I’m the kind of lame person who really does get excited about salads, and this is no ordinary salad anyway! It sounds like a crazy concept on paper, but man, does it look incredible. An easy way to shake up the usual healthy lunch routine.

  63. Donna says:

    OK, I’m a little sad that I had to google ‘fattoush’ just now. You have expanded my culinary horizons once again!

  64. Those tomatoes look divine and I love how you have used sumac in the dressing 🙂

  65. Salads on Mondays. Cupcakes on Fridays.

    Yeah, I could definitely get on board with that.

  66. Maria G. says:

    My family is also crazy about salad, even my kids. I also try to whip up a unique salad as possible but I have never tried a salad with beans yet. I have tried a salad with tomatoes, cucumber and even spinach though. My kids loved it and my husband and I loved it as it is not only tasty but healthy.

  67. Reeni says:

    The last picture sucked me right in and totally convinced me! Monday salad it is! I love pita in my salads – makes it extra delicious.

  68. Nutmeg nanny says:

    Fattoush is just so delicious! This looks perfect 🙂

  69. I love fattoush salad and I love the idea of the black eyed peas in this one. Yum! Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays. 😉

  70. Natalie says:

    I ripped this out of my cooking light! so glad it gets good reviews!

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