FATTOUSH SALAD WITH TANGY CITRUS DRESSING AND LOQUATS

FATTOUSH SALAD WITH TANGY CITRUS DRESSING AND LOQUATS Fattoush salad is so good that if you ever order it at a Lebanese restaurant, you ll likely go back just for it (disregarding the hummus or even falafel). Crunchy, crispy and tart, its secret lies in sumac, a tart dried berry that is ground up and used as a spice popular in the Middle East. And don t worry it s a completely different plant to poison sumac, the rash-causing plant in your garden. This recipe is a riff on fattoush, neither traditional with the addition of loquats (a fruit also known as Japanese plums), nor in its inclusion in a Greek feast. Although fattoush is not Greek, due to the geographical proximity of Greece and the Middle East, the flavours are similar and pair well together. Can't get loquats where you are? Don't worry, it's just as good without! 1. Salad: o o 1 durum tortilla or pita bread, torn (for crispy topping) Handful cherry tomatoes, halved 2

o ½ cucumber, peeled and chopped o A few handfuls (approx 150g/5 oz) your favourite salad leaves or mix o 3 tbsp chopped parsley o 3 tbsp chopped mint o 3 radishes, sliced thin o 3-4 loquats, peeled and diced (optional) 2. Dressing : o 1 teaspoon ground sumac, soaked in 2 teaspoons warm water for 15 minutes o 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice o 1/2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses o 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar o 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil o Pinch garlic powder o Pinch of salt 1. Mix all the dressing ingredients together, including the water the sumac was soaked in. 2. To make crispy topping, tear one tortilla (or pita) into small pieces and bake on a parchment-lined baking tray at 200 C (390 F) for around 3-4 minutes until browned and crispy. 3. Mix salad ingredients together (except bread) with dressing, then garnish with crispy topping bits and loquats. 3

Vegan tzatziki What happens when you mix yoghurt with a bunch of herbs, lemon and cucumber? It becomes a delicious dip or sauce that would make any chopped vegetable taste amazing (or any dish, really)! ½ cup vegan yoghurt ½ cucumber, peeled and grated, water squeezed out ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1 tablespoon chopped mint 1 tablespoon chopped dill ½ teaspoon lemon zest 1. (Optional) For a thicker, Greek-style yoghurt, put your yoghurt in a cheesecloth and hang over the sink for a few hours to let excess water drain out. 2. Peel the cucumber, grate it and squeeze excess water out over the sink. Add the other ingredients and mix everything together. 4

Greek salad with homemade vegan feta This is the salad I WISH I d eaten in Greece. I enjoyed a lot of Greek salads (a LOT! Like practically every meal) minus the feta but this version with homemade vegan feta is special. Salad ½ cup peeled chopped cucumber ½ cup peeled chopped tomato ½ recipe vegan feta (recipe below) 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 4 teaspoons olive oil ½ teaspoon dried oregano 1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. 5

Feta 200 g firm or extra-firm tofu (NOT silken), crumbled roughly to feta-size chunks 1 tablespoon white miso 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice pinch of salt 1-2 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast 1 teaspoon tahini 2 tablespoon water 1. Roughly crumble tofu into a bowl. 2. In a separate bowl, mix the miso, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, Italian herb blend, nutritional yeast, tahini and water until thoroughly combined. Pour this mixture on the tofu and mix thoroughly. 3. Refrigerate. This is best served after it has marinated overnight, as the flavours will have melded better. 6

Courgette (zucchini) and feta fritters (Kolokithokeftedes) These unpronounceable fritters, kolokithokeftedes, are a mash of grated courgette (zucchini) and feta (we ll be using our homemade vegan feta for this), baked to a crisp. Traditionally, they re fried but I did a side-by-side test of baked vs. fried ones and they actually tasted exactly the same. They also usually contain breadcrumbs to bind them together, along with egg, but I ve replaced both of those with chickpea flour and flaxseed, respectively. Courgette (Zucchini) and Feta Fritters Makes around 6 fritters, enough as a starter for 2-3 people 1 courgette (zucchini), peeled, grated and drained ½ onion, grated and drained 7

1/2 recipe vegan feta (recipe on p. 6) 2 tablespoons mint 2 tablespoons dill 2 tablespoons parsley ¼ cup chickpea flour (or breadcrumbs) ¼ tsp kala namak/black salt (optional, for eggy flavour) 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 2.5 tbsp water) ½ tsp baking powder Salt & pepper Tzatziki sauce, to serve (p. 4) 1. Preheat the oven to 200 C (390 F). 2. Peel the courgette and then grate it. Squeeze out excess water (there's a lot!) from the grated courgette by pressing it with your hands over the sink. 3. Grate the onion and squeeze the excess water out over the sink. 4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the grated courgette, grated onion and other ingredients. 5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Form small golf ball-sized patties with the mixture and place on the tray. Smush down. 6. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the patties (optional, but makes them crispier) and bake for 10 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, or until browned on each side. 8

Greek spinach & feta pie (spanakopita) Now, this isn't any old vegan spanakopita. I don't do simple. This recipe cuts no corners. A lot of spanakopita recipes call for both feta and ricotta cheese. So, we're going to be making BOTH vegan feta and ricotta from scratch, then mixing them up with spinach, layering with phyllo and baking! Greek Spinach & Feta Pie (Spanakopita) 8-10 sheets of phyllo pastry (many storebought versions are vegan, but check the ingredients to make sure) 750 g (approx. 1.5 lbs) of fresh spinach 1 onion, peeled and diced 9

1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced 2-3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped 1-2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped 8 green onions, green parts only, chopped Pinch of nutmeg Freshly ground salt and pepper 1 recipe vegan feta (recipe on p. 6) 1 recipe vegan ricotta (see below) Olive oil 1. Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Lightly grease a 9X12 inch baking pan with olive oil. Begin by layering one phyllo sheet, then brushing with olive oil (use a pastry brush if you have one). Layer another phyllo sheet on top of that one, and coat it with olive oil. Continue until you have used up half your pastry sheets. Place these in the oven for 10-15 minutes to prebake the bottom layer of crust and prevent it from going soggy. 2. In the meantime, heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan and saute the onions until translucent, then add the garlic, dill, mint and green onions and saute until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add a pinch of nutmeg and some freshly ground salt and pepper and saute for another minute, then remove from the heat. 3. Steam or saute the spinach until cooked, then allow to cool and squeeze out any excess water. 4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the spinach, the onion/garlic/herb mixture, the ricotta and the feta until well combined. Scoop this onto the prebaked layers of phyllo dough and spread out evenly. Put a layer of phyllo dough on top of this, brush with oil, add another layer and continue (brushing all layers with oil) until you ve used all the phyllo dough. Brush the final layer with olive oil and cut into squares, cutting through the top layers of phyllo and spinach mixture but not cutting through the bottom layers of phyllo dough (leave those intact!). 5. Bake for 15 minutes or so, until the edges and/or the top of the crust have turned golden brown. 6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature or until just slightly warm. Cut into squares, this time cutting through the bottom layers of dough. Ricotta 200 g drained and pressed firm tofu 1/4 cup cashews 1 tsp lemon juice 10

1 tsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, chopped Pinch of salt 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes 1. In a spice grinder, grind cashews until fine. 2. In a food processor, blend ground cashews, tofu, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and nutritional yeast until it forms a thick paste. 11

Share This! Did you find this mini cookbook helpful? Please share it with your friends! (Or your dad before your next visit home if you re hoping he ll make you some dishes from it! ;)) who wrote this? Caitlin Galer-Unti is the vegan food and travel writer behind theveganword.com. She is originally from the U.S. and currently living in Barcelona, Spain (after a 7-year stint in London). She's traveled to 30 countries (and counting) and blogs about the vegan food she finds and makes around the world at theveganword.com, which has been featured on The New York Times and Yahoo!. The Essential Vegan Travel Guide, a guide to finding vegan food anywhere in the world, was published in December 2015, and is her first book. Make sure you re subscribed to The Vegan Word by going to theveganword.com and signing up for email updates so you always get the latest recipes! 12